Date Crashers
by WhiteGamma
Summary: AU Malik and Bakura discover that their brothers are dating. Both disapprove for different reasons and become partners for as long as it takes to make Mariku and Ryou break up. However, things become... interesting; Thiefshipping, Deathshipping
1. Partners In Crime

I need to make some things clear before you start reading:

I called Hikari Marik 'Malik' and Yami Marik 'Mariku' to make the difference of the names a bit clearer. Mariku is Malik's older brother. Ryou and Bakura are twins. This is AU and Duel Monsters or the Sennen Items don't exist. Well, on with the story!

* * *

><p>Chapter 1<p>

Partners In Crime

This could not be true! A tan hand ran through thick platinum blond hair. Lavender eyes stared into the orange gold sky where the sun was about to set in the early evening. A light breeze blew by, but it was not able to cool the young teen's head. The look of his narrowed eyes was even more stressed by the kohl markings decorating his eyes. He let out a heavy sigh.

'This can't be true', he repeated in his mind as he shook his head desperately trying to clear it. Gold, heavy earrings danced wildly as he did so, contrasting to the midnight blue school uniform he was still wearing. He brought the hand that had previously been busy with his hair to his temple, massaging it. This simply could not be happening. He tried to convince himself that this was just a dream and that he would wake up to the angry yelling of his older sister any second now, in vain. He did not wake up. So it had to be true.

He was used to his older brother always causing trouble, but this had crossed a line. In the the teen's rather religious family, he had simply gone too far on that one. Mariku, the boy's older brother by two years, had sat beside him in the cafeteria today. That alone was already very strange. But the worst thing was yet to come. Mariku told his little brother that he had come to announce something. 'To brace him' would have been a better choice of words. He then told him

"I'm gonna bring my boyfriend with me for dinner today."

The younger of the two brothers had started choking on his lunch from shock. "W-what?" he asked when he had pulled himself together again. His older brother merely grinned victoriously. He had not told him any more about that matter and had not shown up again after lunch. Malik, the younger one of the two, had not gone home after school. He had spent all day on the rooftop of the school building, trying to come up with something he could do. But it was already evening which meant that he had to go home soon and greet his brother's…

He shuddered at the mere thought of the word. What would his siblings Isis and Rishid say? Certainly Mariku had not used the word 'boyfriend' when he had told the rest of the family that he would bring someone home. Their family, even though they had lived in Japan for about eight years now, was still very religious. All four of them came from Egypt and the only one who did not give a damn about their country's tradition and customs was their easy-going brother Mariku. He had never cared, not even back in Egypt, nor when their father and mother were still alive. Never.

And if he brought a boy as his 'lover' with him today, he was sure everyone would get a heart attack. This had by far been his brother's worst idea in years. Now that he thought about it though, how could it be that his brother had a lover? His wide lavender eyes blinked in confusion. He had not thought about this yet. His brother was not exactly what you would call 'normal' after all. He bitterly remembered the time when he had to see a psychiatrist almost every day just to make sure he would not go back into 'that state'. His brother was not crazy and he had never doubted his sanity. He of all could understand best why his brother did not act normal sometimes. But how would a common person know? Mariku tended to be aggressive or even violent sometimes. If only once he would do something to another person, he was certain that person would not want to be with him anymore. Which meant that he must have been pulling himself together for that other boy. It was weird just to think about it. Mariku? Caring deeply for another person? It did not match, he thought shaking his head once more. His brother was able to care for other people, but he had never done so towards someone who did not belong to his family. Mariku cared for his little brother most of all, or so Malik had assumed. It did not seem that way if you just watched from the outside. It even seemed as though Mariku could not stand his little brother like most older siblings did. But he was very protective over the 'chick of the nest' as Isis sometimes referred to him.

Then again, how was it possible for someone to be and _stay _together with his older brother when he was obviously _not_ the type for relationships or socializing at all? He heaved yet another sigh. He was thinking too intensely about this. He would have to see for himself, that 'special someone' of his brother, that is.

* * *

><p>'Shit!' thought a furious white haired teen as he sprinted down the stairs of the school building. A pair of mahogany colored eyes set concentratedly yet angrily on the way ahead of them. He was so going to be late. He had promised his twin brother, Ryou, to be earlier home today because said brother had asked him to. However, something had, let's say 'occupied his time'. Well, actually it had been some other students who had dared to bully his precious brother the other day. Of course he had had to teach them a lesson and make sure they would not do it again, right? So his tardiness would be jusitified. Yet another problem arose. How was he going to tell his sensitive twin that he had beaten up some students?<p>

He pushed the doors open and left the school, heading towards the street when suddenly…

He stopped abruptly in his tracks as he heard something that caught his attention. He listened closely, the sound was so faint that he would have missed it if it had not been for the coincidence that it was very quiet at the moment. It was a soft melody, so exotic sounding and unreal that he hardly recognized it as a voice. A voice it was, singing a soothing song. A song sung with the utmost emotion and care that it would have made a common person cry. But Bakura, the one who had come to a halt because of this melody, was no such person.

He turned around to see where the voice was coming from but found no origin. Left, right, behind. He saw no one except for a few people on the sidewalk and some cars passing by. The voice rose for a moment as the song seemed to reach its climax and as absurd as it seemed to Bakura that moment, he could have sworn the voice was coming from above, so he looked up. For a second he had to shield his eyes to protect them from the sun's mercilessly bright beams. And then he looked closely. He had not expected to actually find someone on the rooftop of the school building, but clearly there was someone standing there in the sunset.

From the distance he could only tell that the person was a student of Domino High since he wore the same school uniform as he himself, a male's uniform no less. The boy was still singing peacefully and had not noticed the other teen listening to him. Bakura had to admit, he was surprised, which he hardly ever was, that the singer was male. The song was sung so softly and gently that it seemed impossible for a boy to sing it but this guy did. And he did a damn good job at it, might the white haired teen add. He had to shield his eyes for a second time because something was blinding him, but it could not have been the sun this time. He soon found out that it was jewelery which the singer of the foreign song was wearing. He could not make out the lyrics of the song as it was sung in another language. He assumed it must have been Arabic or something similar. With the platinum blond hair floating in the gentle breeze, the bronze skin, the golden jewelery and that perfectly smooth voice he almost looked like an illusion or imagination. Maybe he was, Bakura thought and shook his head. When he looked again the student was still standing there but the song ended soon. For a moment Bakura was dissapointed but he quickly shook it off. He had no time for this now. He was already going to be late.

Besides, the boy was obviously a student here. And with that exotic appearance he would not be hard to find, the teen thought with a smirk. He could still take care of that tomorrow. Of what exactly? He wondered as he turned to walk home. He would know by tomorrow. Now he had to get back home.

"Where have you been?", came a worried voice as the white haired teen entered the house he called his home. Two chocolate brown eyes were staring from the other end of the hallway as the other shut the front door.

"Something took longer than expected", Bakura replied casually. He had not thought of an excuse. His mind had been occupied with too many thoughts of that student from earlier. Could he not stop thinking about it, at least now that he was home?

"Oh…" Ryou wanted to ask what it was but he was afraid that his twin brother might get mad at him for asking things that did not concern him.

"So, why did I have to come home earlier anyway?"

His brother seemed to brighten a bit at that but it faded as quickly as it had come. "A friend invited me to have dinner with him and his family."

"And? That doesn't explain why I have to be here earlier."

"He said I should bring you, too", the younger looking teen said with something that sounded like hope in his voice.

"Why should I? I don't know them", Bakura pointed out with a scowl. His brother's face considerably dropped at that.

"I just thought… since he asked…" Oh no, Bakura did not like where this was going. His brother was about to use his puppy eyes. They worked most of the time and he knew that.

"Look, Ryou", Bakura began in a somewhat softer tone.

"I already said you would come, too", the smaller one of the twins said, voice almost cracking mid-sentence.

"Alright! I get it! I'll go there", he said seeing that he would have lost as soon as his more fragile brother began to cry. His brother's expression lit up in an instant.

"Thank you, brother!"

* * *

><p>Isis was standing in the kitchen, preparing dinner, when she heard the front door close non too carefully. She immediately lay the knife she was holding onto the kitchen counter to see who had come home. She glanced into the hallway and was greeted with the sight of her youngest brother. A sigh of relief that she could not hold back passed her lips.<p>

"Malik, where have you been? It's very late already", she said sternly, her ocean blue eyes narrowed.

Her younger brother passed her by and went up to his room, looking rather exhausted. "Had to stay longer", he replied simply.

The raven haired woman put her hands on her hips in annoyance. "And _why _did you have to stay longer? Don't you even think you can skip dinner again, we're expecting guests today", she said, making it sound like a warning or even a threat in that mother-like tone.

Malik sighed the moment he reached the handle of his room's door and let it slide down again. Skipping dinner would not have been a bad idea although he was quite hungry. After Mariku had told him about today's guests he was not able to eat his lunch properly. Wait. Guest_s_? His brother had only mentioned his… his… never mind. Maybe that other boy was bringing his parents with him as if they were getting… married? He shook his head frantically. No, no, don't even think about it. But who else would he bring if not his family? And why else would he bring his family if not for the acknowledgement of their relationship? Malik almost shuddered at the thought.

"Malik?" Isis asked after she had not received a reply from her little brother.

The teen grabbed the handle once more and this time actually went into his room. "I'll be right back."

The moment Malik had vanished into his room, Mariku came from his own and went down the stairs to Isis. "Was that our brat's voice just now?"

"Don't call him that, Mariku", Isis warned, "but yes, that was him. I wonder where he had been for so long. Even Rishid was earlier back than him."

The teen with the abnormally spiked hair shrugged casually. "Who knows, maybe there's, you know, _someone_?" he suggested with a smug grin on his tanned face.

Isis put a hand to her mouth, gasping. "You mean, he has a girlfriend?"

Again Mariku shrugged. "Either that or maybe something else."

His sister impatiently put her hand back on her hip. "You know something, Mariku."

"Maybe I do?"

"Oh, you're making me insane!" she exclaimed frustrated. "And you haven't told us who exactly is coming over today."

"I told you. It's my _friends." _The moment he finished his sentence, the door bell rang. "And there they are", he said with a satisfied grin and went to open the door. Isis sighed and went to Rishid who was sitting in the living room and told him the guests were there.

"Hello there, sweetheart", Mariku greeted cheerfully after having opened the door. Both teens were successfully taken aback by that greeting and their host grinned triumphantly.

"Good evening, Mariku", the white haired boy greeted back sweetly which earned him a dumbfounded look from his twin beside him. Said twin then looked back at the blond teen in the doorway.

"What the fuck?" he said rudely. And this time he earned a strange look from his twin, but that was merely for swearing.

"'Kura! I didn't think you'd actually move your lazy ass here!" Mariku said, looking happy unlike the addressed teen.

"Why did _you _of all dumbasses out there invite my brother and me for dinner?"

"Brother!" Ryou exclaimed, a reminder that he was not allowed to use such words. But swearing was normal for these two though. After all they were 'partners in crime' as they referred to each other, rather than 'buddies' or even 'friends' although to the eyes of outsiders they were. Mariku was in the same class although he was a year older. But he and Bakura did not befriend because they were in the same class. No, they actually used to ignore each other until one certain incident - a fight between the two. It had been back then in middle school. Mariku had actually dared to mock Ryou in front of his protective twin. That is how they got into a fight. In the end neither of them had won, they had beaten the living daylights out of each other until both were fine with having tied. They admitted they had both never had such a good fight and decided they should not be against each other unless they felt like fighting again. Ryou was relieved when he found out that they had become friends or at least something close to it. Mariku also never mocked him ever again, quite on the contrary.

Despite their 'friendship' since middle school they had never been over for dinner or anything similar. This was going to be the first time.

"Let's say I felt like it", the older teen answered and held the door open for them to enter. With that both entered without saying another word and were greeted by Mariku's siblings, a woman, seemingly in her mid-twenties already with long black hair, blue eyes, tanned skin and a long traditional Egyptian robe. Behind her stood a man, probably older than her, with a partly bald head but a black ponytail on the back of it, also tanned skin but he wore modern clothes despite the tattoo of Egyptian inscriptions on the left half of his face. It took Bakura a moment but he recognized him as one of the city's policemen. 'Oh, fuck! That's that cop from back then!' he realized with displeasure.

Rishid was indeed a policeman and faintly acquainted with the white haired teen from longer ago. Bakura did absolutely detest the fact that this Rishid was the only cop that had almost caught the 'Thief King' as he often referred to himself because of his frequent stealing. He had never been caught before but one time the impossible almost happened. That one time included Rishid. He and some 'victims' that others would have called his gang wanted to steal a car, quite a nice one at that. He would have gotten that car if it had not been for one of those idiots who messed up on dealing with the alarm which went off immediately. The police were faster than expected but that did not bother Bakura a lot. He used his favorite route to escape and was surprised when one of the cops had caught up with him. It was a new one, one that obviously knew how to do his job. He had cornered the teen in a small alley and told him not to try and escape again. But who was he to think he could order the Thief King around? Although the policeman was well-built and probably stronger than he himself, he took his chance as soon as it arose. He was at an advantage for knowing every street and alley in that part of the city and was faster gone than anyone could look. Ever since then he had been extra careful and only worked alone now.

He had not seen him ever again since then and now he had to find out that this cop was related to his buddy?

"Good evening, I'm Ryou Touzoku and this is my twin brother Bakura", Ryou replied after the other two had introduced themselves. Isis nodded in appreciation with a smile.

"Come in and sit at the table, please", she said and led them in "Dinner will be ready any minute." With that she went back into the kitchen.

In the meantime everyone had seated themselves at the table. Bakura did not like how Mariku had immediately seated himself beside his brother instead of somewhere else since the table was big enough. He would have said something if that cop had not sat at the very same table so he forgot about that idea. Just as promised, a few minutes later Isis came back in with their dinner and placed it in the center of the table. She smiled at her guests but suddenly her expression darkened as she realized someone was still missing. She turned with an angry expression to the stairs and yelled "Malik! Will you come downstairs now? Our guests are already here and dinner's ready, too!"

There was a short period of silence and then Mariku snickered smugly while Bakura looked rather confused. There was another one? Shortly after that, footsteps could be heard from the room above and then the door opened to reveal the missing person.

For a moment all Bakura could do was stare in disbelief. Out of the door had come a teen that looked very similar to Mariku. The hair color was the same platinum blond but his hair was neatly combed down. His eyes were also lavender but his were so fully opened that it made him look a lot younger than his older brother. His eyes had the same kohl marks under them that his brother had, too and he also wore his gold jewelery in the same places, around the neck and on his arms, as much as he could see, and he also wore those heavy looking earrings. He was still in his school uniform while everyone else had already changed into their normal clothes. And that's when it hit him. This boy was the same he had seen after he had left the school building!

"Oh, so that's your brother, Mariku?" Ryou questioned with a sweet smile.

Mariku nodded. "Yeah, that's the brat."

The 'brat', as his brother had called him, walked down the stairs and sat down at the table. "Oh Ra, just shut up", he said to his almost identical looking brother as he sat down. Bakura noted that his voice also sounded a lot different from his brother's. He did not want to use the word 'melodic' although it was true. It made him think back of the song he had heard him sing. He was definitely the owner of the voice he had been listening to.

"Hello, my name is Ryou", the young teen introduced himself, once again, smiling.

"I'm Malik", he replied although everyone knew that already thanks to Isis.

"So it's you", came suddenly a voice he had never heard before. He turned to the teen that looked almost the same as the boy who had introduced himself as 'Ryou'.

"Excuse me?" he asked with uncharacteristic politeness.

"I didn't know you knew my little brother", Mariku said.

"And I didn't know that you had a brother with such a good singing voice", Bakura replied in a mocking tone. Malik immediately knew what he was referring to. He had not expected anyone to be listening to him when he was singing on the roof of the school earlier. Bakura noticed the other's surprised expression and smirked to himelf. That was all proof he needed for his theory.

"Brat, you've been singing to 'Kura here? You always refuse to sing to me", Mariku said with a fake pout.

"I wasn't singing to him, you fool." He then turned to the older-looking twin "I hadn't expected anyone to be listening but I'm glad you enjoyed yourself", the youngest Ishtar said with a smirk that looked almost like his brother's.

'Haughty brat', Bakura thought, strange enough, contently. "I never said I was enjoying it, don't flatter yourself, kid."

"Bakura, please be polite", Ryou warned from beside him. Malik was still smirking but the twitching of his eyebrow when he was called a 'kid' was enough to satisfy Bakura. The teen turned to his older brother though.

"Mariku, I really hope it's not him", he said in a teasing tone.

His brother chuckled in response. "Why? You want him for yourself?" The younger one had obviously meant to say something back but never got the chance because Mariku went on. "And nope, it's not Bakura. Ryou is the one", he said and took the boy's hand in his own who immediately blushed at the affectionate touch while the young Egyptian on the other side of the table paled considerably. The remaining three at the table looked confused at them for a moment and an awkward silence filled the room. After a moment Isis coughed a little to get rid of the silence.

"Mariku, what's the meaning of this?", she asked awkwardly and had not expected the answer that came.

"Ryou and I are together", he replied bluntly. Another silence.

Ryou wanted the ground to swallow him then and there, it was so embarrassing. Malik looked shocked for a moment. Sure, he had expected him to bring his erm… boyfriend but he had not expected him to say it so… casually, as if it was nothing. Isis and Rishid seemed to be even more shocked than him and could not say anything for the time being.

"What?", came a threateningly calm voice from Ryou's side that was not occupied by his boyfriend. He looked over to his brother who was looking back at him with a freezing cold glare.

"Brother, I had meant to tell you…", he tried but lacked confidence. He fidgeted with the hand that was still holding his own firmly.

"Ah… ahaha… why don't we have dinner now before it gets cold?" Isis suggested while she tried to cover her nervousness with a little laughter.

"Ah, yes…", Rishid agreed and so they ate, in silence. Nothing could be heard except for the sounds of cutlery hitting against plates. Looks were exchanged, most of the time uncertain ones. Only Mariku's looks were smug while Bakura shot death glares around to everyone who dared to look at him. Neither spoke a word until they left.

"Thank you for tonight", Ryou thanked and bowed slightly in a Japanese manner despite being British.

"Oh, please, don't mention it", Isis replied with an awkward smile.

"See you tomorrow", Mariku said and Ryou nodded in response but was pulled away by Bakura who quickly said 'bye' and then left with his twin in tow. As soon as the door closed Isis turned to her younger brother.

"Mariku, how… why didn't you tell us?"

"I had told you they were coming over."

"But you never said your… your…", she fidgeted with the hem of her robe in search of the word she did not dare to say out loud.

"Boyfriend?"

"Yes!"

"What about it?" he asked with a shrug of his shoulders.

"'What about it'?" she repeated, irritated "You know exactly why that bothers me. He's a _boy_ for Ra's sake!"

Mariku only grinned at her. "So?"

"_So? _Mariku, it's not normal to be in love with someone of the same gender!"

Malik stood in the doorway of the living room, listening to their conversation. He had been going through all possible scenarios earlier and this had been one of them – Isis lecturing him and Mariku not caring one bit. That's exactly how he had imagined it to be, but now that it was reality he wished it had not ended like this. That boy, Ryou, seemed to be a very nice person and did not deserve an evening like this. Why did Mariku have to say it like that? He could have been a bit more sensitive for once.

"In fact, it's not _right_!"

"Not right?" Now it was Mariku's turn to repeat her part in irritation. She seemed to have hit a nerve. Of course it was not normal, but not right? Even Malik wondered about that for a second before he quickly shook his head. Naturally, it was not right. How could he doubt that? He could not even imagine dating another guy.

"Of course it's not right! Why do you think Ra created men _and _women?"

"Out of boredom", Mariku said, provoking her some more.

"No, certainly _not _out of boredom! Why can't you see that it's wrong?"

"It doesn't feel wrong to me."

His younger brother was surprised by that comment just as much as Isis seemed to be. It sounded as if he actually _loved_ that boy. It made Malik think once more. Is it wrong to be with someone of the same gender if you really love them? Somehow, if only for a moment, that did not sound wrong at all. No! What was he thinking? Something like this was simply inacceptable no matter how strong the feelings for each other were. Isis was right, he would probably be punished for his sins by Anubis when he died. But that was his brother. His brother had always protected him. He could not simply let him sin and be punished by the Gods just because he thought he felt something for this Ryou.

Isis sighed in defeat. Certainly, that last sentence had made her think the same as him. Rishid walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. He nodded to her and she nodded back and went to her room. Nobody talked to one another for the rest of the evening. Malik could only hope that in the morning everything would be forgotten.

Which was not the case. The morning held the same awkward silence as the previous evening. The brothers did not go together to school. It was not like they ususally went together, but Mariku sometimes walked with him, probably to make sure no one would come near hus little brother. But today he did not, he had even left earlier than his younger brother. And that was unusual.

Malik arrived at school at the same time as always and went straight to his locker to gather his books. He got his books out of his rather tidy locker thinking that maybe he should pay his brother a visit later, or maybe they could walk home together. That would be a better start than silence, he decided as he relocked his locker. Only when he closed the small door did he notice someone had been standing beside him. It almost made him drop his books when he recognized the person.

"What do you want here?" he asked more rudely than intended.

He identified the white haired teen beside him as Bakura, the twin of his brother's boyfriend. He wordlessly and without a warning grabbed the other teen's free wrist and dragged him down the hallway saying "Come with me".

"Wait, where are we going? I have a lesson now!" Malik protested and tried to free himself but the grip was iron and he had to let himself be dragged away, earning some strange stares from other students. They were outside again and Bakura brought them behind a wall where no one would interfere, which Malik admittedly did not like too much.

"I can tell you dislike this whole situation as much as I do", he began as he stood in front of the tanned teen with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well, yes, because like I said, I have a lesson now", Malik scoffed, covering his unease with that.

"I didn't mean that!" the other male snapped irritated. "I mean the thing with my brother and your brother."

"Oh…", was all Malik could say. "And what do you want to tell me now? Certainly nothing I don't know already."

"Believe me, there is something you don't know yet, kid", Bakura mocked as the smirk Malik had not seen since the day before returned.

"Stop calling me 'kid', will you? You're hardly any older than me. And I'm also a high schooler mind you", Malik replied slightly furious now.

"Whatever. I didn't drag you out here to argue about such unimportant things."

"Then why did you come?" the younger one asked and tried to surpress his curiosity.

"I came to make you an offer." That smirk revealed a rather sharp canine which did not go entirely unnoticed by the other teen.

"Well, spill", he ordered bluntly.

"Let's work together to make them break up." Bakura was still smirking while the other's face looked a bit shocked at the offer. Was he serious? He would ruin his brother's relationship and possibly make him unhappy?

"We'll ruin every single little 'date' they have and eventually they will just have to break up. I don't care if Ryou will cry for a month non stop. So…", he paused for a moment and lifted his right hand and stretched it out towards Malik. "What do you say… _partner_?"

Parnter, Malik replied inwardly. Somehow that did not sound bad. Both, the plan of making them break up and Bakura referring to him as his partner. Why? He hardly knew this Bakura guy but somehow it felt good to know they could get along. Not like he wanted to be friends with him. After this little 'mission' their paths would lead into different directions again, of that he was sure. But that did not matter right now. This was about his brother, no, about his whole family. Everything would be alright again as soon as they were not together anymore. Yes, Bakura making this offer was probably the best thing that could have happened in a situation such as this one. And so he took the other teen's hand with a grin on his bronze face.

"What's your plan, partner?"

* * *

><p>AN: So? I hope this was good enough to make you want to read more~ Looking forward to seeing you in the second chapter, too.

Questions and suggestions (maybe even for dates to ruin?) are as much appreciated as reviews! Thanks for reading and see you soon.


	2. First Date

Firsty I want to thank **LadySunami**, **Elle-L **and **Fluffy no Danna **for being the first to review this story. Thank you! And also thank you to everyone else reading and enjoying.

And special thanks to Elle-L for pointing out one of probably many errors xD I'll try to improve, so if you (referring to everyone reading this) find a severe error I'd appreciate it if you could tell me :)

* * *

><p>Chapter 2<p>

First Date

Malik was on his way out of the school building, walking through the hallway a bit faster than usually. For some reason he was anxious to get out. And the reason was his new partner. 'Meet me here after school. I'll tell you then', he had told the tan skinned teen. Malik felt unusually good today, but it had not been like this all day. It had been since this morning when he had agreed to work with Bakura in order to make their brothers break up. How could he feel so good when he knew he was going to make two people very unhappy and miserable, he wondered. He shrugged, it was for the better.

Just as agreed, he went to the place behind the wall but the other teen was not there yet. He dropped his bag to the ground and leaned against the rough wall. Hopefully he would show up soon because Malik was not exactly the type of person who liked to wait. Sure enough, the awaited white haired teen showed up minutes later, not in the least guilty that he had made the other wait.

"Missed me?" he asked with a smug expression.

"As if", the younger teen scoffed which only amused the other even more.

"Now for the plan, it's pretty simple so you should be able to understand it, blondie", he mocked. That only resulted in Malik getting irritated, just as planned. For some reason he could not explain Bakura really enjoyed annoying that kid. Of course, he always enjoyed mocking others but it was especially fun messing with Malik. His reactions were strangely pleasing to him. Some of his scowls made Bakura think that he looked even more attractive than he already did. Wait, what had he just thought?

"I might have blond hair but that doesn't make me brainless. I bet you aren't any smarter than me", Malik countered. Although it was an insult, Bakura did not find enough restrain to surpress the huge grin that shamelessly showed his inhuman canines.

"Oh, I beg your pardon, little genius. Well, then maybe _you_ should suggest a plan to separate our little lovebirds."

Malik thought for a moment. How hard could separating lovers be? He would have to find out. "We'll just follow them. There'll be a chance to do something." There would, but the answer did not sound very intelligent.

"No plan then?", Bakura asked with a raised eyebrow. "Does our genius have a black-out or something like that?" He noticed how the other teen's tan cheeks went pink with a blush which had to be from either embarrassment or anger, but maybe it was both. Bakura chuckled at his victory.

"Then how about _you_ tell me what you had in mind?" he snapped. Was that a pout he saw there? Oh yes, it really was fun messing with this kid.

"No need, just follow me", he replied and went ahead. Malik quickly gathered his bag from the floor and went to walk beside the other student. "Ryou told me he would come back later today. He'll meet Mariku, of course", he explained as he walked to where the cars of the older students were parked. He lead his new partner to his own car. It was black, not the newest one but at least it was a car, which he had been able to afford thanks to stealing the one or other little 'treasure'. He felt no need to tell Malik so and just got into the car and waited for the other to enter as well. With slight hesitation Malik got in, too, and Bakura started the engine.

"Your own car?" the younger teen asked curiously, shifting into a comfortable position in the leather covered seat.

"Yes."

Malik gave an acknowledging sound in response. "I prefer motorcycles over cars though."

"Then go and steal one."

The tanned boy shook his head despite the possibility that Bakura could not see. "Not necessary. Beside the fact that I don't steal things, I already own one." Not the fact that he owned a motorcycle but that he was not fond of stealing caught the Thief King's attention first.

"Have you ever stolen something?" he asked with curiousity. The boy had to think for a moment but then shook his head again, to Bakura's dismay.

"No, at least I don't remember having ever stolen something. But why do you ask anyway?" he got slightly suspicious now. Bakura smirked once again. It made the other assume that he had stolen some valuables already.

"Because you have the honor of being partners with the Thief King himself", he said with pride obvious in his haughty tone. Malik's eyes widened, if only a little, from surprise. He _knew _he had heard the name Touzoku somewhere before, it was the guy everyone kept calling the 'Thief King'. His expression turned sly in an instant.

"Oh? Well, I guess I have indeed heard of you before then, but...", he drifted off and paused dramatically. Bakura stole a glance at him to see his mocking expression. "Well, I had expected a bit more of the so called Thief King", Malik said smugly as his eyes trailed over the other teen's body. He looked for a moment longer than he had originally intended and gazed at his wild white hair, his flawless, handsome face, mahogany, cold eyes, broad shoulders and chest and overall really nice body. An amused chuckled escaped the other's throat.

"You say so yet I can't help but think you like what you see", he said with a pleased smirk. Malik immediately turned to look away from the other teen. Had he just been caught _staring _at another _boy_? Impossible! He was just... looking.

"Don't flatter youself", he said and failed to notice the obvious blush on his cheeks which the other, however, did notice.

"I remember saying that to you, kid."

"And I remember telling you not to call me a kid." Bakura grinned at him and Malik felt himself become more irritated. "Like I said you're hardly any older than me...", he said quietly despise his anger.

The driver of the car chuckled at him. "But I _am_ older than you, kiddo. How old are you anyway?"

"Oh?" Malik said, his expression turning smug again. "Are you that interested?"

"And what if I am?" Malik did catch the suggestive tone the white haired teen was using and could not help but feel slightly embarrassed. Embarrassment quickly turned into anger though.

"Well, I don't have to tell you anything about me", he snapped unable to think of a better comeback. He looked out of the window. Anything just to look away from this infuriating guy, he thought. He heard the other chuckle once more.

"I just turned eighteen. That makes me about two years older than you." Malik turned to look at him after that, eyes wide.

"How did you-?"

"Oh, did I guess right?"

'What the heck! He guessed?' He averted his eyes to look out of the window once more. "You were just lucky."

"Hey, kiddo, take a look. We've caught up with our lovebirds." Ignoring the 'kiddo'-part, of which he naturally disapproved, he did as he was told and soon caught sight of his brother and the other Touzoku twin at the entrance of a park. Bakura parked the car on the opposite side to make sure they would not notice them.

"How did you know they would be here?"

"Ryou usually goes here when he needs to think. This park is like his favorite place or so", Bakura said with a shrug. The Egyptian watched the two and seemed anything but pleased. Bakura noticed the frown on the other's face but did not say anything about it. He did not like this scene himself.

"I wanna know what they're talking about...", Malik said, more to himself than to Bakura, but the thief replied nonetheless.

"It's not safe to get out yet. We'll wait until they make their next move."

'Next move as in 'until they get going' or 'until they jump each other'?' Malik shook his head violently from one side to another. He _really _did not want to think of his brother doing anything... indecent. He had never wanted to know anything about his brother's love life to begin with. And the thought sank in. His brother, someone he never expected to be with anyone else than his family, had a _love life!_ It was somehow frustrating for Malik to know that even Mariku could have more of a love life than him. Oh, he really did not need to think about that right now, or ever, he had a mission to accomplish after all.

"They're leaving", Bakura suddenly said, tearing the other out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" Malik blinked to get back to reality. He had been spacing out way too much ever since he had found out about his brother and his boyfriend.

"When they're around the next corner we'll get out and follow them on foot, got it?"

"Yes", the Egyptian agreed before he could think and Bakura seemed amused by his submissiveness. He growled at the other's smug grin and waited patiently for his brother and his... you know... to vanish around the next corner. Soon they were out of sight and Bakura told him to get out. They followed them around the corner they had just rounded and literally stalked them through the next few streets.

'I really, _really_ feel like a stalker now. Bakura seems experienced though... I'm just glad I'm not the one being stalked by him. Although I wonder where he got his practice from... Maybe he stalks his brother frequently? No, that would not make sense. If he had, he would have known about Mariku and him... uhm... dating, I guess.' The two of them were following the other pair down another rather large road when suddenly Mariku made a movement he was not supposed to make - he turned around - but Malik had not noticed. Gladly, Bakura had. He grabbed the younger teen by the arm and pulled him into the closest alley. As they waited for Mariku to turn his back on them again, which he did after Ryou asked him what was wrong, Malik did not dare to even take a breath. His and Bakura's bodies were pressed against each other firmly, behind Malik the wall. The taller teen had his hands on either side of the Egyptian's head against the wall as he gazed out of the alley, not noticing how uncomfortable the other was.

After a few seconds without fresh air filling his lungs, Malik opened his mouth in a gasp and could not help but swallow hard. He begged Ra to not let Bakura notice, however, his hopes were crushed when mahogany eyes shifted to look at him.

Bakura had meant to say something like 'The coast is clear now' but changed his mind when he saw the priceless look in those wide, lavender eyes of his partner. He smirked deviously at the crimson color on his tanned cheeks and the nervous expression. He decided to make the other feel even more uncomfortable by leaning very, _very_ close to his face. The blush only seemed to darken at that and the teen seemed to be at a loss for words, simply gazing with wide eyes at the albino towering him.

He then whispered into Malik's ear. "Enjoying yourself, kiddo?" Of course, Bakura knew that he was probably wishing that their brothers would break up on the spot so he could go home as soon as possible, but it just amused him to no end to make the other become flustered. "Maybe Mariku should turn around more often." He chuckled darkly and the other snapped back into reality.

"Y-you jerk! Let go!" He yelled and pushed the arms keeping him in place away from himself. The blush refused to fade even when he turned his back on Bakura. 'He's just messing with your head, Malik! Calm down... Yes, that's good. Okay now, just because this guy's brother is in a homosexual relationship with your brother does _not _mean he's gay, too! Alright, take a breath to calm down. That's right, it never happened. Now go and ruin your brother's date.'

"If you don't want to continue in public then how about we go to my place after we are finished here?" Bakura suggested with a wink.

'What the f-!' Bakura burst out laughing. "Stop laughing! And I'm definitely _not _going to your place!"

"Aww, what a shame", Bakura said, feigning disappointment. Malik felt the need to punch something, preferably the teen in front of him.

Their 'stalking' went on rather uneventfully since Mariku decided to be less paranoid and did not turn around a second time. They eventually ended up in front of a café which the couple entered. The partners, as they could refer to each other as such now, stayed a few minutes behind a wall near said café.

"We need to get in there without them noticing us", Bakura mumbled as he observed their destination carefully.

"Is that even possible? That café isn't really big and they'll recognize us right away", Malik argued from beside him.

"Not if you don't screw up."

"What? Why me? You could screw up as easily as me!" the tanned teen countered angrily. Bakura only raised an eyebrow and grinned.

"You think _I _could screw up? Do I have to remind you of who I am?"

"Oh, show off! Just because you can steal doesn't mean you can get in there without them noticing you."

"Wanna bet?" the white haired teen asked with plenty of confidence. It made the other hesitate for a moment.

"It's not like I'm going to lose, so..." Malik replied with a shrug. Bakura's grin widened at that.

"Alright." Bakura shifted so his body was completely turned to his partner as he started to explain. "I'll go in there and I _won't_ be noticed-" Malik rolled his eyes at the emphasize of 'won't' "-and as soon as I got a table to sit at you'll get in, too." The already huge grin became more devious. "And if they notice you then you lose. And if that happens you'll have to... you'll simply have to do whatever I want", he decided at last.

"And if they do notice you", Malik interfered immediately "then it's _you _who has to do whatever I want."

"Sounds like a plan. What are we waiting for?" With that Bakura turned on his heels and left for the café's entrance. He walked in as casually as any other person would. Once inside he looked around, not turning his head but only shifting the position of his eyes, for any signs of the couple and found them, as expected, in one of the corners of the shop. He sat down at a table close to them but not too close for them to even notice another customer had entered. A pot with a green plant was shielding their view from him and vice versa. He grinned as he averted his eyes to look at them through the leaves. They had not noticed a thing and he was even in hearing range. He leaned back enjoying that victory was once again his.

Meanwhile, Malik was waiting outside. He did not know how long to wait but guessed five minutes would be enough for someone to seat themselves in a café. So after five minutes had passed he also left his hiding spot and went to enter the shop.

"Why does it bother you so much anyway?" It was Mariku who had asked. Ryou had been looking depressed since the evening before and his lover naturally could not stand seeing him like this. The younger of the two looked up, cocoa eyes filled with worry.

"How can it not bother me?" he replied, the worry and sadness clear in his voice as he spoke. "It's... it's your family and... if we don't have their approval then...", he trailed off and had to look away again. He could not stand looking into Mariku's eyes while saying that. It was already hard enough just living with the fact that his lover's family did not approve of their love. Wording it was even harder for him.

"Then what?" the Egyptian asked, seeing that he would get no answer if he did not press.

"Then maybe... maybe we...", he was struggling to get the words out but they sounded wrong, even in his mind, unspoken. "Maybe we shouldn't... I mean-" He stopped as he felt somthing touch his hand - it was his lover's hand on his own. He received a comforting squeeze and dared to look up again. Mariku's eyes were full of emotions he could not even name, at least not all at once. He looked angry, worried, disappointed, determined. But mostly it was his fury that he let show.

"Don't even think about that!" he demanded, his voice raised to a louder volume but not quite yet a yell, for which Ryou was grateful since he did not want anyone staring at them. But oh, if only he knew. If only he knew that his brother was listening and watching the whole scene with probably more fury than Mariku had. If he knew he would have run for it, for he knew how his brother could be when people came a bit too close to him for his liking. And _this_, his 'friend' holding his brother's hand like that and talking to him like that and looking at him like that and just _being_ with him like that. It was certainly _too bloody close!_

Bakura felt himself lose his temper and his control slip out of his grasp and was about to stand up when he was suddenly interrupted. "See? I didn't screw up." Bakura was sure his heart skipped a beat at the sudden interruption and would have yelped in surprise if he had not beenBakura. Instead he exhaled heavily and glared at the tanned teen who had seated himself in front of him.

"Oh _sorry,_ did I startle you?" Malik asked in a mocking tone and, to Bakura's surprise, giggled at him. For a split moment he found himself staring in surprise as the Egyptian giggled almost happily with his hand covering his mouth and his eyes closed. He had meant to continue scowling at him but that giggle made him change his mind and instead he went back to his usual self and gave him his trade mark smirk.

"Your girly giggle fit certainly did", Bakura said as he leaned back in his seat with a grin. Malik immediately stopped what he was doing to scowl at the other.

"I wasn't 'giggling'. Only girls do that", he protested.

"Duh", Bakura replied bluntly. "And yes, you were giggling."

"In your dreams."

"Are you implying that I have dreams about you?"

Malik's face went beet red at that and he coughed and cleared his throat. "H-how should I know what you dream about! But really, I don't wanna know what your dreams are about."

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Really? Oh, maybe you're right. That'd be too much for your virgin ears, I guess."

Malik let out a growl of frustration. "You're a sick pervert you know that?"

"How so?"

"Because you turn around every word I say so it sounds like something perverted."

"That's only because you make things so easy for me. But maybe you want it like that?"

"Wha-!"

"Oh, naughty, naughty, Malik", Bakura chimed with a wink and a wave of his index finger. The blush on Malik's face seemed to darken at that, if that was even possible. Bakura almost doubted it was.

"Y-you're doing it again!" the younger teen said accusingly, however this time his voice was louder. Bakura noticed it too late but put a finger to his own lips to silence the other nonetheless. Malik immediately noticed his mistake and put a hand over his mouth as if it would help matters. Bakura slowly shifted his gaze to the couple near them to check if they had heard anything or not. He let out a quiet sigh of relief when he saw the two talking like before. They had not heard.

"Be more careful! You almost exposed us!" Bakura hissed silently so only his partner would hear. Malik turned carefully to look at his brother and his boyfriend at the other table. They were no longer holding hands because Ryou had pulled away, insisting that they should not do that in public, so Malik never saw that sign of affection initiated by his very own brother. Although he had not seen he still could not help but wonder how long they had been together, whether Ryou had first fallen in love with his brother or the other way round and how far they had gone... Malik almost shuddered at the very thought of his older brother doing Ra knows what to his partner's twin. He did not want to think about it but his mind kept wandering.

"You shouldn't think too hard about this, Ryou. I don't care whether they approve or not. They can keep living with sticks up their conservative asses-"

"Mariku!" Ryou interrupted, obviously not pleased with his lover's choice of words.

"-but I won't give you up just because they can't handle it", Mariku finished genuinely, a glint of determination in his eyes. Ryou flushed at the last comment and had to avert his eyes once more.

"B-but..." he mumble "my brother..." He did not finish his thought but the spiky haired young adult in front of him understood.

"Bakura and I have known each other for a long time now and I know how he reacts to guys coming too close to you-"

Said teen almost nodded in agreement at that statement as he listened to their conversation. 'Damn right, you know! You should know better than to challenge me like that and just leave my brother alone!' he wanted to scream but refrained from doing so.

"-but he can't stop me either." With that last sentence he put his hand back on Ryou's and waited for an answer. "What do you say?"

The white haired teen hesitated for a moment, the hand squeezing his own not helping finding the words to say what he thought either.

"I...", he began.

'Okay, _that's_ it!' Bakura snapped inwardly and turned to his partner with a furious expression on his face. For a moment Malik felt a twinge of fear when he saw the other's face and the pure anger and fury written all over it. "We'll ruin their little moment this instant."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

To Malik's relief the smirk returned to the older teen's face. "I prefer the classic way when it comes to that." Malik merely blinked but then Bakura turned around and already spotted a waitress with several drinks on a tray coming their way. His smirk widened. 'Just perfect.'

The waitress walked up to Mariku's and Ryou's table to give them their drinks and passed Bakura on her way there. Malik could hardly register everything when Bakura suddenly took off one of his shoes and let it slide over the floor into the direction of the couple. The shoe ended up in front of their table without their or the waitress' notice. The waitress successfully tripped over the evil object on the floor, fell and let go of the tray out of shock. The tray with the drinks was sent flying and - Bakura could only grin when his plan succeeded - crashed directly onto the table the couple was currently sitting at. Ryou gasped when several cups broke and their contents spilled all over the table, him and Mariku. They looked down at the shattered glass and porcelain and spilled liquids which had managed to stain their clothes. Both were shocked and did not even move until the waitress hurriedly stood up and started to frantically apologize to them. It took both of them a moment to respond due to the shock but Ryou eventually did.

"It's... it's alright, really! Things like that happen", he tried to convince her and she left, probably to find a rag to clean with, saying she would clean up the mess immediately.

Bakura snickered at the result of his little maneuver. 'And that's only the beginning... I'll make you regret taking advantage of Ryou.' While Bakura was looking forward to fututre dates he could ruin, Malik could only stare at the scene that had just taken place in front of his eyes. No, that was still taking place, he corrected as he saw his older brother lose his temper.

"That motherfucking-!"

"Mariku, she tripped on accident. She didn't mean to. Please don't blame her", Ryou pleaded, trying to calm his boyfriend.

"She could just open her fucking eyes and watch where she fucking walks!" Mariku yelled and stood up, slamming his hands on the table. He turned to leave when Ryou stopped him, grabbing him lightly by his wrist.

"Wait, where are you going?" Ryou asked weakly.

"I'm leaving! This brainless bitch ruined my mood even more", he snarled furiously and yanked his hand out of Ryou's grip. He left the café and with it a sad and guilty feeling Ryou behind. The whitette looked down at the mess in front and on him with a sad look, unable to do anything else. For a moment he did not know what to do. Eventually he decided that staring at the chaos would do nothing to help the situation. He then stood up as well to chase after the teen that had just stormed out fuming.

After Ryou had left as well, Malik turned to the culprit and kept staring wordlessly. It had certainly worked better than he would have expected if Bakura had told him about that plan. Of course, he would not admit that to his already over-confident partner. Speaking of which, Bakura averted his eyes from the entrance through which his twin had just walked and turned to the tanned Egyptian in front of him with a victorious grin.

"I guess that worked. Poor waitress though", Malik commented as Bakura stood up to collect his missing shoe on the floor and put it back on.

"Expected anything less from me?"

Malik just rolled his eyes. "It was not very original though."

"And you think you could have done better?"

"Of course", Malik said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "By the way, we tied."

Bakura only remembered their bet then. "For now, Ishtar-kid. We'll have another bet and then we'll see who wins." He had hardly finished that sentence when a waiter walked up to them to ask them for their orders. Bakura eagerly ordered a cup of black coffee. When he had placed his order he turned to Malik with a grin.

"And what do you want, hon?" he asked in a faked sweet tone. Malik's eyes clearly twitched at the nickname.

"I'll pass. I'm not thirsty", he replied, trying hard to not sound too pissed off as long as the waiter was around.

"Aww, come on", the white haired teen insisted. "We're already here so why not have drink?"

"I told you already, I'm not thirsty." The truth was Malik would order something to drink. The problem was that he had no money with him at the moment. Telling his partner that would probably only lead to him getting teased more. Saying he was not thirsty seemed like a good solution.

However, Bakura could imagine that he had no money to pay with. He was certain that the blond was thirsty after their little mission. He smirked, he had figured it out.

"Iced tea for the kiddo here", he told the waiter who nodded and went to fetch their drinks. Malik stared at him with wide eyes before he snapped back.

"Why did you order something for me? I told you, I'm not-"

"Don't worry, it's on me", Bakura chimed with a smile. It took Malik off guard.

"What?" He had not expected that someone like Bakura would pay for more than he had to but he actually paid for his drink? "Why?" was all he could think of.

Bakura shrugged. "I'm in a good mood now that we have ruined date number one and..." He leaned closer to his partner. "You're just saying that you aren't thirsty because you don't have any money with you, right?"

'How did he know?', Malik wondered while trying to look normal. In vain though, his expression betrayed him and showed his surprise to the smirking thief.

"I take that as a 'yes' then", he said, his smirk never leaving.

The young Egyptian coughed awkwardly. "No, I do have money with me. I just didn't want to spend it." He then started to grin as well. "But if you insist on paying for me then I guess I will accept."

"Good choice. You won't get that chance again, kid."

"I told you, I'm not-!"

"I know, I know", Bakura laughed. Shortly after, the waiter came back with their orders and placed them on the table and left again. Malik still seemed slightly angry. Not only did his partner keep interrupting him but he also kept calling him 'kid' or similar names. The white haired teen reached for his coffee and was about to drink when he saw the small pout on his partner's face. He snickered and put his cup back down onto its saucer. "Quit bitching already and drink."

The other teen mumbled something under his breath and then took his glass. "You better not get used to bossing me around. I won't do as you say. I don't care if we're 'partners' now or not."

"But we are. The only difference is that, well...", Bakura paused for a moment, still grinning widely.

"That what?" Malik asked curiously, taking a sip from his iced tea.

"That I'm better in every single aspect. And that means that I'm the one giving orders", Bakura finished confidently. For a moment all the younger teen could do was stare in disbelief and the next moment he burst out laughing loudly. Bakura blinked a few times. Then he smirked as well.

"Y-you se-serious?" Malik asked between fits of laughter and tried to catch his breath.

"Sure I'm serious." It kind of amused Bakura how the truth, or so he claimed his statement to be, made the younger teen laugh so much. Malik calmed down after a few moments but could not get rid of the amused grin on his lips.

"Tell me three aspects that make you better than me", he challenged.

Bakura did not have to think a lot about that and began to list things. "I'm smart, handsome and could steal _anything_ without getting caught."

"Oh sure, excuse me for doubting you, oh great Thief King Touzoku", Malik said, the sarcasm obvious in his words.

"Let's see if I can find some time to forgive you." Malik rolled his eyes in response. By that time Bakura had finished his coffee and put some money on the table and stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"Home, what does it look like? Our work is finished for today", he said and was about to leave.

"What? Wait!" Bakura turned around again.

"What is it?" he asked, a tad bit annoyed. He wanted to go home and see Ryou's reaction, what could the blond still want? Malik started to fidget. 'Dammit! I don't know the way back home from this café. I've never been in this part of the city!' He had meant to say that but knew better than to give Bakura another chance to mock him, so he decided to simply let it go. 'He's still waiting for an answer. Come up with an excuse for Ra's sake!'

"Uhm... see you tomorrow?" he asked uncertainly. 'Way to go...'

A smirk formed on the older teen's lips again. "What? Can't live a day without me?" Malik was about to protest but his partner went on. "Whatever. See ya." With a wave of his hand he was gone. The Egyptian looked down at the glass his tanned hands were still clutching and then at the money on the table. 'He actually paid...' A smile crept its way on his lips. 'So much for stealing everything.' But Malik was glad that Bakura had not just left without paying or else it would have been Malik who would have had to pay for it, and he did not have any money with him. He let out a sigh of relief and finished his drink before he stood up and left as well. 'I wonder how bad of a mood Mariku will have when he gets home... Hopefully not too bad...' With that in mind he followed the path they had walked to get here. Hopefully he would get back to his school like that. From there on he would know how to get back home. He scowled at the memory of Bakura who was probably almost home by now while he had to struggle to even know where he was. He would pay for it tomorrow, he thought with a mischivous grin.

* * *

><p>I'm sorry for the shortness and lack of action in this chapter! It will get better though (I'm already typing chapter 4), you will also find out more about Mariku's and Ryou's relationship soon, because it has a background story. And you'll also get to see more interesting dates (they get better with every chapter, promise) which results in better ways to sabotage them~<p>

Hope to see you in Chapter 3 soon! Have a nice day~


	3. You Are The First

It's super late but I wanted to update today so... xD Thanks to **J. L. Lunar**, **Tiikerikissa**, **Kuracakes **and the anonyme reviewer **Accountless **for leaving me sweet comments~ Thank you guys!^^

I'm trying to keep them as IC as guys can be in a Shounen Ai fanfic, which I think is difficult, but I'm trying my best~ As always, if you find something to criticize, please do so. Oh, and I wanted to tell you that this story will get a cover soon (the one for 'Prince of Thieves' is finished but not up yet), I will notify you as soon as it's there! And now enjoy the new (hopefully better than the last) chapter!

* * *

><p>Chapter 3<p>

You Are The First

Malik was humming to himself while helping Isis with preparing dinner. Both stopped instantly when they heard the front door being slammed shut. The younger of the two immediately went to check who had come home, although he could have guessed and been right. Of course, just as expected it was his older brother Mariku and he did not look very pleased. He had to be still angry from Bakura's little prank from earlier. He was always surprised by how easy to irriatet his brother was. Malik decided to play innocent, knowing that if he acted suspiciously, everything would be revealed. "Geez, Mariku, what's the matter?" he asked his brother who had almost passed him by but stopped at the question. He shot a glare in his younger brother's direction but went to his room and slammed the next door shut. Malik let out a sigh as if he did not exactly know what was wrong. In truth he had to try hard not to grin at the other's reaction.

"Hmm? Why is he in a bad mood now?" Isis asked confused.

The youngest Ishtar merely shrugged and went back into the kitchen. "Maybe it has something to do with his boyfr-"

"Malik...", his sister interrupted, not bothering to even look at her brother and went back to cutting carrots. Malik let out another sigh. Everything had been so tense ever since the day before. Neither of his siblings would look anything but unhappy and no one has smiled ever since. His only hope was that his and Bakura's plan would succeed and they would break up eventually. He did not know what would happen if it stayed like this. Isis and Rishid could not exactly _make _Mariku break up, right? He would never obey, never. And he had no say in this anyway. Malik had always been the one to be treated like a little child although he was sixteen already. The knife he was holding cut the carrot roughly, splitting it in two. He had always hated being treated this way. Why could they not see that he could take care of himself? Sure, they were worried and he did not blame them either. After what happened back in Egypt... He shook his head. He did not want to think about that again. It has been eight years after all. The point was, he did no longer require help like he did back then.

He shook himself out of his thoughts and only then did he realize that he had cut himself. He eyed the fresh wound on his index finger that was spilling blood already. Fascinated by the red liquid he held his hand up to get a better look at it. It reminded him of... something. Yet again something he did not wish to be reminded of. But he could not help but stare at the beautiful color.

"Ra, Malik you're bleeding!" Isis exclaimed, interrupting his silent admiration.

"Oh", he merely replied and put the finger in his mouth, cleaning it off of all blood which quickly returned, fueled by the other liquid. "Hadn't noticed."

Isis gave him a worried look but continued preparing dinner. "Malik?" she asked after a short period of silence.

"Hm?"

"What do you think about this...?"

Once more, he was able to figure out what she was referring to but pretended to be oblivious to it all. "About what?"

"About... Mariku and..." When she did not finish her sentence, Malik knew that he was supposed to realize what she meant without pressing any further. He had had his time to come up with an answer but it was harder than one would think. Malik was not even sure what to think about it. He only knew that it would not be good for Mariku to have a boyfriend since their family was really religious and conservative, except for Mariku, of course. Malik himself had always believed it was not right to love someone of the same gender, at least not in that way. But after what Mariku had said... it made him think hard about this. It could not be entirely wrong either. This was really confusing.

"I...", he began when he noticed that his sister was becoming more and more impatient. He did not think it was wrong, not anymore, but it would make things a lot more complicated if he took his brother's side in this situation. "I think you're right", he finally replied. Isis seemed to let out a breath of relief. Probably because she had feared her youngest brother would become a 'rebel', too. She thanked him by smiling happily and went back to what she had been doing. Malik could have sighed, too. What was wrong with him? He could have never told his sister that he thought Mariku was right. So why did he even hesitate? Maybe his brother was rubbing off on him. Not a good sign...

* * *

><p>School was dragging on today, or so it felt to the Egyptian. He had been thinking about his family and their 'crisis' more than before. He had even spaced out several times in class and the teacher had to tell him too pay attention too many times. Malik was usually an attentive student. Unlike many others he cared about his grades which were in most subjects very good. But today he did not feel the usual urge to listen to the teacher and what was going on. He did not even notice it when a fight had started right behind him. Only when one of the boys had accidentally hit his chair did he awaken from his daydreams. He had not been so oblivious to things since... always. It was not only the family problem that was nagging at his mind. He had also initiated an inner battle with himself. It was 'Morals vs. Heart'. His morals, the ones he had been fed by his oldest siblings against the feeling in his heart. His morals told him that a boy dating another boy was wrong no matter how you looked at it. Boys were meant to date girls, it was only natural, just like it was unnatural for boys to love each other. That was when his heart joined in with furious pounds and thumps. His heart assured him that, if the boys truly and unconditionally loved one another, it was just as natural as a boy being in love with a girl. Malik had always liked to believe whatever his heart would say but in the end he never chose its opinion. What had always won were his morals because they prevented trouble. But now he was not sure anymore. He did not want to think it felt right if a boy loved another boy but he could say with certainty that it was not as wrong as Ishizu believed it to be. The teen let out a heavy sigh. He already feel a headache coming his way.<p>

"Malik-san?" came a voice suddenly. The tan boy turned around in his chair to where the owner of the voice. There stood a girl of his age with purple hair tied back in a ponytail, wearing the pink girls' uniform. It was Miho, one of his classmates.

"What is it?" he asked, leaning back in his seat to signale that he was listening. He was rather thankful for the distraction, it would grant his over-worked head a small break.

"I just wanted to ask if you... uhmm... did you do the homework Mrs. Kujaku gave us last week?" she asked giggling at herself in embarrassment. "I kind of forgot to do it."

"Ah, yes, wait a second", he replied and dove his hands into his bag on the floor to get the documents in question. Suddenly, the whole class went quiet and went from happy chit chatting to silent mumbling and muttering. Malik was so preoccupied with roaming through his bag that he had not noticed at all. Miho averted her eyes from her Egyptian classmate to look why everyone was acting so strange. Her gaze wandered to were everyone else was looking. In the door stood someone. Someone she knew, someone everyone in school knew. She gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth in surprise. The student with snow white hair and deep brown eyes stepped into the classroom. All students had recognized him by now as non other than Bakura Touzoku, one of the most famous and most popular guys of Domino High.

Miho blinked a few times and wondered what he would be doing in their classroom, this was a lower grade after all. But she did not complain. She, like most other female students as well, admired the mature Touzoku twin with a passion. Bakura looked around the room with a bored expression. He was most likely looking for someone, but who?

Finally someone asked what everyone was wondering. "Hey, Bakura, what're you doin' here?" the blond teen, Jounouichi, asked from a chair near the door.

"I'm looking for Ishtar. Thought he might be here." The moment he had finished his sentence Malik came up from under the desk with his homework in his hands.

"Here they are", he said and looked up at the purple haired girl who had not been paying him attention until then. Bakura smirked when he spotted the tan teen he had been looking for. He approached him but Malik did not notice because he had his back turned on the other one. "Uhm... Miho-san?" he asked uncertainly with his eyes narrowed when the girl had looked away ffrom him again to look somewhere behind him. What was her problem? She had wanted his homework, right?

Said girl glanced to him and then raised a finger to point at something, or someone, behind him. He turned around and was face to face with mahogany eyes, boring into his lavender ones. He almost jumped in surprise upon realizing who the person was. "Bakura?"

"No, Santa Claus", he replied sarcastically. "Of course, it's me, kiddo." Oh great, he was calling him 'kiddo' in front of everyone. Way to keep a fairly good reputation. He scowled at the older boy towering him.

"Just what do you want here?"

"Right me if I'm wrong but wasn't it you who had wanted to see me?"

"I don't remember saying something like that", Malik spat. The whole class was watching them, curious as to what two so different boys were up to. Seeing them speak to one another was highly unusual to everyone. Bakura was known as a trouble maker, thief and rebel, whereas Malik was a rather quiet student who only attracted attention because of his good and utterly exotic looks. Some knew that Malik's older brother was friends with the popular thief but those were also aware of the fact that Bakura and Malik had probably never talked to each other before.

"Whatever. I wanted you to meet me after school. You know where", Bakura said with a wink. Malik felt his face heat up in embarrassment but nodded in agreement nonetheless. Agreeing would make the other leave sooner, he told himself. Bakura smiled, satisfied, and left the room. It did not take long until people, mainly girls, were questioning the poor Egyptian about his relationship with the older teen. He hesitated the first time and mused for a brief moment whether he should call Bakura his friend or his partner but he quickly replied to each and every one who asked that they were only hanging out. And not even that was really true. Malik had foun yet another thing he needed to ponder - his relationship with Bakura.

As arranged, both teens met up after school at the same spot as the first time. Malik looked up expectantly, he did not like the fact that he was smaller and therefore had to look up but he shoved that thought aside despite himself. "Well?"

"First off, tell me how Mariku reacted to yesterday's incident", Bakura demanded with a grin. The younger boy responded with a similar expression.

"He was quite pissed when he came home and stayed like that for the rest of the day. He seemed okay again this morning, though", he explained and gave a shrug. "What about your brother?"

"He was depressed when he came back but that's good. That means we're one step closer to freedom." Oh, so he calls it freedom, Malik thought with an amused smirk. "But he told me that he'd be going out with some friends today. Guess they're trying to have another date or so."

"Who knows", he replied with another shrug of his tanned shoulders.

"So, here's the plan...", the white haired teen began and pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. "We'll get home and wait until both have left again. I'll pick you up, so you just text me as soon as Mariku is on his way to get Ryou." Malik merely nodded and pulled his cell phone out, too. They exchanged numbers and made their ways home. It was not long until Malik received a message from Bakura. He had been sitting on the couch doing practically nothing when his phone went off. He flipped it open and read over the message.

'Hey, kid-'

Malik's eye immeditaley twitched at the hated nickname but kept reading.

'-Ryou told me he was gonna watch one of those shitty new movies. Guess he's not lying. Thought you might need time to think of a plan. I know your genius brain can't keep up with mine-'

His eye twitched once more. Oh, how he'd think of something.

'-so c ya later. Don't forget to text me when your good-for-nothing brother leaves the house.'

He had to surpress the urge to laugh at the last line and instead flipped his cell phone closed again, saying "Yeah, yeah. Whatever..." to himself. Sure enough Mariku left the house about an hour later without telling a soul where he was headed. His sister sighed and sat down on the couch beside her youngest brother who was currently texting someone. Her unease was replaced by curiosity and she smiled at her brother. "Who are you writing to?"

Malik quickly sent the message his partner was waiting for and turned to look at his sister. "Just a... a classmate." His sister's crystal blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. His answer was not especially convincing. He had thought about saying 'a friend' but his sister knew just as well as he did that he did not refer to anyone as a friend. He looked away from her sensing Isis' suspicion. The older Ishtar, however, smiled once more.

"A classmate. I see..." To Malik's surprise she did not press any further and got off the couch to leave the room.

"Uhm... Isis?" She stopped and turned to meet her brother's eyes.

"Yes?"

"I'll be out, too... so don't wait with dinner for me." The black haired woman merely gave him a knowing smile.

"Alright." With that she went off to her own room. Malik was confused. Why had she been smiling at him like that? And since when was it _alright_ for him to just go and not tell her _where_ he was going, _with who_ and _why?_ He should be glad that she was giving him some privacy but it was strange. The phone in his hand vibrating, signaling another text message tore him out of his train of thought.

'Go and get dressed in something that doesn't attract attention, kid. You have about 10 mins.'

'Something that doesn't attract attention?' Malik repeated in his head and looked down at his school uniform. He should probably change then.

* * *

><p>Bakura was waiting in front of the Ishtars' house in his black car. He was growing more and more impatient by the minute and looked at the clock in his vehicle for the umpteenth time, noting that Malik was 'bloody' late. He had been waiting for five minutes already and normally he would not even wait two minutes, except it was for his brother. He was thinking about leaving and doing things on his own account. He did not really need a partner after all, it would only be more convenient. Two heads are better than one, even Bakura admitted that.<p>

Finally the front door opened and revealed the blond he had been waiting for. Bakura immediately noticed the change. He had never seen Malik in casual clothes before. He wore a black shirt and khaki pants with a navy jacket. He reminded him a lot of Mariku now since he usually wore similar clothes and colors. And they looked even more alike with all the jewelery they seemed incapable of abandoning. So much for 'don't attract attention', Bakura thought with a smirk. Briefly, he felt disappointed that the younger boy was covering his body from head to toe again. Beside his face, the only skin that was revealed were his neck and hands. Although the golden choker covered up most of his slender neck, too. The unfamiliar feeling of disappointment disappeared as soon as Malik got into the car, without hesitating this time.

"Was it so hard to find something 'normal' or why are you late?" Bakura enquired rudely. Malik simply gave him a look that told him to shut up and so they drove off. They were driving in silence to the movie theatre since neither of them had anything to talk about, or wanted to talk about. After a while Malik dared to steal a glance at the person in the driver's seat. He wore a blue shirt, a pair of jeans and a black trench coat despite the fairly warm fall weather. Malik had to admit that it suited him well. He had worn similar clothes when they first met, also a lot of blue. 'He must really like blue.'

"Like what you see, Ishtar?" Bakura mocked. The tan boy immediately averted his eyes.

"Huh? No! I just noticed that all you seem to wear is blue, that's all", he responded, a light shade of pink on his otherwise bronze cheeks. 'That's the second time he caught me staring. Dammit! He must think I'm like... like my brother!' Malik immdediately felt a sting of guilt for making being like his brother sound like an insult, because, he decided, it was anything but that.

"There's a possibility that blue might be my favorite color, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I know", Malik said dismissively. He really did not want to be teased by him again. He had had his share this morning already. He noticed that Bakura also took a glance at him and was about to say something to at least tease him back but he already spoke up.

"Why do you guys wear so much jewelery anyway?"

"Oh this?" Malik asked and automatically placed a hand on his golden choker. "Most of it was passed on to us by our ancestors. I wear most of it every day. I can't really explain why, it just doesn't feel right to me to leave everything at home in a box." He paused for a moment and began to fidget with one of his heavy ear rings. "My sister got a necklace from our mother but she never wears it. She says that she's afraid it might be stolen."

"And she's damn right about it", the whitette commented as they came to a halt in front of a red light. He took that chance to look at his partner who seemed a bit uncomfortable for some reason.

"Where are your parents?" he dared to ask and the other seemed ten times more tense than before. His back going stiff in an instant and eyes, although fixed on a spot ahead of them, unfocused. He had stopped fidgeting with his ear ring for a second but started again after the light turned yellow and Bakura had to look away from him to continue their ride. Malik bit his lip before he replied dryly.

"Dead."

It was silent for a moment. Bakura wondered about how he should respond to this. He would certainly not say 'I'm sorry' although he had felt a twinge of guilt when he heard the hurt tone in which the blond had said that one word. He knew something he could say, but should he? Before he could ponder that thought any longer his mouth had formed the answer already.

"Our... mom and sister died, too", he explained calmly. Maybe it would lighten the mood more than sappy comments and attempts at trying to cheer him up. "Our dad is usually on business trips. So it's only Ryou and me at home most of the time." He saw Malik watch him in the corner of his eye which encouraged him to continue. "I guess if it wasn't for Ryou I'd be dead by now, too", he joked with slight laughter. Malik smiled as well.

"And why is that?" he asked curiously.

"Will you believe me when I tell you I know how to cook?"

"Hmm...", the tan teen paused for a moment to put a finger to his chin in thought. "Judging from your appearance... nope. But I assume Ryou taught you?"

"Exactly." Bakura did not let it show in any way but he was relieved that his plan had worked, the tension almost completely forgotten.

"I don't really know how to cook. I help my sister with the cooking but I couldn't do it by myself... Oh look, we're here." They had reached the movie theatre and found their 'lovebirds' right away, standing in front of the large building. They were trying to buy the tickets, it seemed.

"Hey, Bakura." Said teen looked to his partner. "Do you even know what movie they're going to see?"

"No, but who cares? All we need to do is ask."

A blond eyebrow rose in question. "And you think the guy selling the tickets will just tell you that."

"Hey now, the 'guy' selling the tickets is a girl and I know her... somehow."

"Somehow?" Malik repeated doubtfully.

"I think you know her, too."

"How would you know?"

"Trust me, you do. Now get the fuck out of my car." Despite the rudeness of it all Malik obeyed. They went up to the person at the ticket stand after the vouple had vanished out of their sight and Malik realized that he, in fact, knew the girl after all.

"Miho-san?" he said in disbelief when he had gotten close enough to recognize her. The girl was surprised at first but then smiled happily at the young Egyptian.

"Malik-san! Come to see a movie?" In the next second she spotted the other Touzoku twin right next to her Egyptian classmate. "Huh? Bakura-kun is here, too?"

'Bakura-_kun?' _Malik repeated inwardly and gave his partner an incredulous look. 'What the hell?"

"Your brother is here, too!" The girl stated cheerfully, clapping her hands together in a girly fashion.

"Yeah, I know. We wanted to go see the same movie", Bakura explained calmly.

"Uhm..." Miho seemed a bit confused for a moment. _We_? As in him and Malik? She looked from Bakura to Malik and back to the older teen again. First he comes to visit Malik in his classroom, telling him to meet him after school and now they go watch a movie together? She remembered Malik telling mostly everyone who asked him about him and Bakura that they were only hanging out, but she started doubting that it was true. So, blunt as she was, she simply asked. "Are you two dating?"

Malik seemed to freeze on the spot, unable to say anything to that. 'What the fu-!'

"Actually not...", Bakura replied. 'Ra, thanks, Bakura', Malik thought but then the older teen grinned smugly at him and turned back to the girl. "...but that wouldn't be a bad idea."

Miho gasped and put a hand to her mouth but then let out a girly giggle. "B-Bakura? What the hell?" a flustered Malik exclaimed. That he felt uncomfortable about this whole situation was an understatement. Bakura was supposed to ruin his brother's date and not Malik's life! Not only was what he said embarrassing but also scandalous, for the young Ishtar knew that anything Miho was told would go straight to her friends and then spread through the whole school! Malik felt panic rise from the pit of his stomach, making him feel sick.

"Well, can you give us the tickets for whatever shitty movie my brother's watching?"

"Sure." With that they got their tickets and, thankfully, left Miho for their movie. They found out that Ryou had picked a film named 'Twilight'. They both remembered girls swooning over that movie and braced themselves for a stupid romance movie. They sat down in their seats in the last row which was what Bakura had requested. Malik could only guess why but he was sure the older teen would tell him about his plan this time. The movie started and Malik found himself already uninterested when he saw that the main character was a girl. 'Great... so it is some sappy movie after all...' Bakura chuckled lowly as he heard the other sigh in annoyance.

"Patience, kid. Let them enjoy their crap for a little longer", he said and, to the blond's discomfort, put an arm on the Egyptian's seat's backrest, pale fingers touching his shoulder lightly.

"So what's the plan anyway?" he asked in hope to cover his nervousness. Why did the proximity make him nervous anyway?

"Look", the albino began and leaned in closer to his partner to whisper in his ear which made Malik's face feel incredibly hot in an instant. "As soon as everyone is busy watching we'll go up there and sabotage the movie."

"A-and how are you going to do this?" Malik could have slapped himself for stuttering like that but Bakura did not even mention it. He either had not noticed or did not care.

"Very simple", he said with a smirk. "_Everything _needs electricity nowadays." Understanding, Malik simply nodded, not daring to look the older boy in the eye when they were so close. Bakura did not back off however and that made Malik worry a bit. 'Pull yourself together, Malik! He is _not_ trying to make a move on you! He's a guy and you're one and he's currently trying to seperate his brother from your brother. Now stop doing as if... as if...'

"What are you thinking about?" Bakura suddenly asked, tearing the young Egyptian out of his thoughts. Said boy jumped slightly at the sudden question and finally locked eyes with his partner. They stayed like that for a moment until Malik regained his ability to speak.

"W-why do you ask?" Again, he wanted to slap himself.

"You're blushing. And I can see it although the room is dark and your skin tan", Bakura stated with a smirk. "Would you mind telling me what you're thinking about that makes you react like this?"

"Wha- Yes, I _do _mind!", he quickly said. "I'm not telling you about every thought that's on my mind!" After that the two of them gained some 'Shh!'s by other people who were trying to watch the movie unlike them. Malik instinctively put a hand over his own mouth, hoping that his brother had not heard and recognised his voice. He heard a chuckle from beside him and shot the boy a glare.

"It'd be safer if you didn't have one outburst after another."

"It would also be safer if you didn't mock me all the time!" the blond hissed.

Another low chuckled erupted from the whitette's throat. "Alright. For now, at least. Let's get to work then. I need you to back me up." With that he stood up and got to the top of the room were a seperate room for the technology was. Malik shook his head as if to clear it and went after his partner. Of course the room was locked and Malik wondered how Bakura was going to get inside. The teen simply smirked and pulled an awkwardly bent card out of his pocket. Malik raised an eyebrow at him.

"You want to unlock the door with some broken card..."

"Shut up and watch the Thief King at work", Bakura demanded, still grinning and put the crooked card into the slit of the door right next to where the lock was located and with only a few twists a quick clicking noise could be heard. Bakura successfully opened the door and held it open for his partner with a victorious grin on his pale lips. "Well?"

Malik merely rolled his eyes and motioned for him to hurry up and get it over with. Bakura gladly obeyed and stepped inside, ordering Malik over his shoulder to tell him when someone was either coming or anything suspicious happened. While his partner was busy messing up the technology, Malik stood beside the door and watched their surroundings. His mind found this to be an ideal chance to go into ponder-mode again and forced Malik to think back to what Bakura had said earlier. He knew that the boy had only meant to tease him but, yet he could not help but think about it again. Looking closer into it, he had to admit, it would feel nice to actually have someone who would take you out on a date like Mariku had probably done with Ryou. Thinking of them being happily together made the young Egyptian... envious. Suddenly he caught sight of an employee that was approaching them. He was immediately alarmed by that fact and turned to his partner to warn him.

"Bakura!" Malik said in a hushed voice, the employee had not noticed them yet.

"What is it? I'm almost done", he replied impatiently as his finger wandered over several switches and buttons.

"Someone's coming!" he said in an urgent tone. He saw Bakura pull two cables and handle some switches and in the next moment the whole room went pitch black including the seperate room Bakura was still in. The only light was coming from the signs for the emergency exits. Confused mumbles filled the room and Bakura took that chance to grab Malik by the arm, he was lucky he even found it, and yanked him towards their seats. His original plan to pretend they had been watching the movie when the lights went out. They passed a furious employee on their way down. Unfortunately, Malik brushed said employee's arm who whirled around into their general direction and yelled "Hey, you!" That was their signal to take off and run for it. They almost fell down the stairs as they ran towards the exit now instead of their seats.

* * *

><p>"Wh-what's happening?" asked a confused and slightly afraid Ryou in the dark. He felt a hand on his own and knew that it was his boyfriend beside him.<p>

"I don't know who the fuck's responsible for this but it's pissing me off", Mariku growled. Now he had let Ryou convince him to watch a movie that he could not even think about without feeling nauseous and now something was wrong with the technology? He felt anger boil up inside of him. First it was that incompetent waitress who had screwed and made Mariku yell at Ryou although he was not to blame. And now their attempt at making up was being destroyed. He inhaled deeply, trying to calm down. He would not become angry again. Not in front of Ryou at least. Or so he hoped.

In the meantime the employee had given up on chasing after the culprits and had found his way to the back room. When he could not figure out which cable was necessary and which not he told the guests they were having some technical problems and that it would take a moment for them to take care of it.

"Fucking-", the older Ishtar snarled and was about to stand up but a hand held him down.

"Mariku, let's just wait here", his lover pleaded. "I'm sure they'll fix it right away." Mariku hesitated a moment but then let out an annoyed sigh and sat back down, deciding he would do what he despised - _wait_. Eventually they took too long for Mariku's taste and he stomped out despite Ryou's pleas to stay.

As soon as his lover had left, his outstretched hand fell limply into his lap, his eyes lowering, his head hanging. He felt even worse than the last time they had fought. Something was going entirely wrong. They had not fought in ages and now it was becoming quite frequent. A wet feeling on the back of his hand brought him back to reality. He had not noticed that he had started crying. He clenched his eyes shut tightly, freeing a few more hot tears. 'I must be doing something wrong... why else would he be so angry?' A sinking feeling made itself present in the whitette's chest. He pulled his legs up to hug his knees and bury his face in them. He had always cried liked that when he had been a little boy. He should not act so pathetic anymore now that he was already so much more mature but he could not help it at the moment. He felt so helpless, the warmth from his hand were the his lover's had been completely disappeared. 'I wish I knew what to do...'

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the two partners had made it out of the darkness and were back in the foyer where both immediately burst out laughing heartily. "Fuck, di-did you see that?" Bakura said between fits of laughter.<p>

"N-no, I didn't see anything! Bu-but I'm sure their faces were like...", Malik stopped laughing like a madman for a second to make a shocked expression to show his partner what he thought the others' faces were like now. "And did you hear that idiot yelling after us?" he asked, still laughing. Bakura merely nodded and put and arm around his partner's shoulder which Malik did not really mind.

"Oh, boy, it would be only half as much fun without a partner", Bakura commented, still laughing heartily. At first Malik was shocked and surprised by those words but found himself smiling widely in the next moment.

"I know...", he said softly. Bakura released him after a moment.

"Come on, we should go before your brother finds us and _that's _something I wanna avoid, really."

"Yeah", the blond boy agreed with a nod of his head and followed his partner out of the movie theatre. Outside, Malik stopped in front of Bakura's car while the other teen was already about to enter the vehicle. He raised a snowy white eye brow at him.

"Are you getting in or what?" he asked impatiently when he saw the other make no move.

"Huh? You mean you're driving me home?" the blond asked in disbelief.

"Why?" Bakura question, smiling. "What's so strange about driving your friend home?" A warm breeze blew by the moment he said that and Malik found himself once more unable to reply. His lavender eyes blinked once, twice. 'Did... did he just call me his... _friend?_' He stared at the older teen's still smiling face. Looking at that unexpectedly warm expression and after hearing those words Malik could not help but return the friendly gesture. He smiled, too.

Bakura saw the younger teen smile, a true, happy smile. The evening sun was setting right behind the blond, highlighting his features in a soft orange shade. It made him appear to be glowing together with his glittering jewelery. His lavender eyes looked serene as the passing breeze made his platinum golden hair float with it. The sight was simply breath taking, the smile enchanting. However, Bakura realized that he had been staring which made him very uneasy to say the least. He coughed awkwardly. "What? You're finally getting in now or what?" Malik still could not quit grinning but got into the car nevertheless, seemingly oblivious to how Bakura had been eying him. They spent their ride to Malik's home in silence but it was not an awkward silence, it was actually very pleasent. For their goodbyes they both chose 'See you tomorrow' and with that Bakura left.

Malik returned in such a good mood that it was impossible for Isis and Rishid not to notice. Their little brother headed straight into his room and the two siblings shared confused looks.

"What do you think, Rishid?" Isis was first to speak.

"I don't really know", the oldest of the family replied. The tan woman then began to grin slyly.

"Do you think it's something or... _someone?"_

"Isis...", Rishid said with slight laughter and shook his head. "As long as he's happy." She nodded in agreement.

"You're right."

* * *

><p>"I'm home", came a timid voice from the front door. Bakura immediately sat up on the couch he had previously been lying on.<p>

"Hey, Ryou", he greeted as his twin entered the room and noted with satisfaction that he did not seem all too happy. And in the same moment the fact that his brother had to suffer like this upset him. "How was the movie?"

His twin stripped himself off his light blue jacket and sat down beside his brother. "Oh... well...", he began. 'Jackpot', Bakura thought and celebrated his victory inside his head.

"There were some... technical problems and... we left somehow, so..."

"Ah, whatever. Wanna have dinner?" Bakura swept onto his feet, changing the subject suspiciously quickly, and went for the kitchen. Ryou was sad because of what had happened but he was not oblivious to the fact that something was not normal about the way his twin brother was acting. On his way to the kitchen he noticed the satisfied expression on his brother's face.

"Are you... in a good mood?" he asked carefully. If he really was in a good mood then he had no intentions of changing that of course.

"No, why do you ask?" 'Actually yes, but is it that obvious?' Despite asking he left the room for the kitchen. He was hungry after all and it was not too late for dinner yet. A few moments later Ryou joined him in the kitchen and started preparations. "You just... seem to be in a good mood, that's all... Is there a reason?"

Bakura paused for a second before shaking his head. "No."

Ryou wanted to ask 'Really?' but decided he would not get anything out of his twin brother. "Okay." It made him feel better somehow, knowing that his brother was happy, or whatever he was.

After dinner, later that evening, Bakura sat down on the edge of his bed and stared out of the window, deep in thought. _"What's so strange about driving your friend home?" _Mahogany eyes narrowed as his mind replayed his words. He let himself fall back on his soft bed, his arms stretched out on the sheets.

_Friend._ 'Why the hell did I say that? I never called Mariku a friend either and I've known him for... ah, I'm pretty sure it's been a long time-' Years, actually. '-so why did I feel the need to say it? I hardly know that kid. Heh, bet he'd freak out over the 'kid'-part again. But no, really, I have no idea why I called him my friend. We are just partners as long as Ryou's still dating that freak and after that... somehow I don't feel like just going into different directions after that... He can be pretty much fun if he just looses up a bit. But teasing him when he's uptight is also fun.' He grinned to himself in the darkness of the room that was illuminated by the bright moon only. Yes, he had to admit, he enjoyed being around the youngest Ishtar. And he decided that the fun should not end just yet.

* * *

><p>Random swear words reached the blond's ears from downstairs where his brother seemed to explode from anger. He lay on his back on his bed, a soft smile tugging at his lips. He let his lavender eyes drop closed and replayed Bakura's words in his mind for the umpteenth time that evening. He simply could not forget them.<p>

'If you really are my friend... then you'd be the first.'

Malik sat up again and turned his head to the side to look at the framed picture on his nightstand. A picture of the four siblings, taken when they had just moved to Japan. His sister and oldest brother were smiling for the camera while Mariku did not even try. He looked impassive, a lot like his brother next to him. Malik had a hollow, _empty _expression on his face. He did not really like the picture because of that but it was the only picture in which all four of them were together. He remembered all too clearly why he had that look, though. They had moved to Japan right after their father... had died. Malik hardly ever talked to anyone. In the beginning he did not understand Japanese anyway, which made things all the more difficult for the whole family. But even after he had mastered the language, he still did not talk to others. He never played with anyone except for Mariku when he was around which is why he never made any friends. He knew, he had always known it but he did not want to befriend anybody.

Malik smiled, eyes still fixed on the expressionless child in the photograph. 'But it seems... as though this is about to change...'

* * *

><p>I learned that trick with the card from my brother but it doesn't work with all doors~ Like I said, the dates are getting better from time to time. I hope I didn't disappoint you there~<p>

See you in Chapter 4! *wave*


	4. Meet the Touzoku's

A/N: Thank you everyone for the amazing reviews! You truly make my days~

**J. L. Lunar **(Don't worry, Ryou will be rewarded for enduring so much~),** Kuracakes **(Yes, I'm German, sweety ;)), **Elle-L **(one of your questions will be answered in this chapter~), **kitastrophe, immaperson **and **Tiikerikissa! **

There's A LOT of stuff in this chapter even if it's a _dateless _one this time. I hope you'll enjoy~ (as always: If you find errors, please tell me)

(Almost forgot! Did anyone notice the epic fail in chapter 3? I wrote 'Ishizu' instead of 'Isis'. Sorry about that! Won't happen again.)

* * *

><p>Chapter 4<p>

Meet the Touzoku's

_I sat in the darkness I was so familiar with. Yet I despised it. I was shaking as I stayed, motionless in fear, on the cold stone floor. I gazed at the sight before me, my eyes tearing up. My breath hitched with a silent sob._

_"P...please...", I begged. My voice sounded foreign, even to me and I briefly wondered whether this was really me speaking._

_The tall man I was begging approached me. Heavy footsteps. Merciless footsteps. My breathing became more and more frantic as control over my very own body seemed to slip from my grasp. He was standing in front of me now. A man with sandy blond hair and beard, violet eyes and tan skin like mine - my father. He was holding his beloved whip in one hand. A device that made me wince just thinking about it and the horrible memories I associated with it, the violence and the pain._

_"Malik", he began in a deep, calm voice. At least it sounded calm but I knew exactly that he was raging inside and he would let me feel it soon enough. He came even closer and I could not surpress a scared gasp. "If you don't do as I say..." he raised his whip, ready to make a blow, "...I will have to punish you and those who were just as responsible for this as you."_

_"I..." He had not beaten me until then, in fact, he had stopped to listen to me. "It's... it's m-my fault. Only my f-fault... so, please..." I bowed down, so much my forehead was touching the cold stone floor beneath me. "D-don't punish him... please..." Sadness defeated shock and the tears fell. I whispered 'please' over and over again, hoping desperately that he would listen to me. For a few moments all I recognized was my own sobbing, shaking, the loud, thudding beats of my heart that rang in my ears and the horrible feeling of despair. Then I heard another sound. A chuckle. No. Laughter. Cruel, dirty laughter. I was filled with horror and dread as I heard my father laugh hysterically. _

_"P-p-please...!" I tried yet again, ignoring that he probably had not heard because he was laughing so loudly. And I could do nothing but sob and beg him not to do anything to... him. I glanced up from my spot on the floor and looked behind my father. Another wave of sadness washed over me as well as guilt as I took in the sight of the person crouching on the floor, obviously in pain. My eyes went wide. He was covered in blood, so much blood. I felt myself hyperventilate. It was my fault. It was all my fault!_

_Ignoring my dangerous father completely, I crawled over to the bleeding boy. I came to a halt in front of him. What should I do? He was bleeding so violently. What if he died? Another choking sob escaped my throat. I put a hand over his blood-coated one and squeezed it, not letting go. He covered his mouth with his free hand and coughed up a load of blood, and more blood. I watched him in horror and my other hand joined my already occupied one on his. I brought my face down, forehead touching our connected hands. I cried uselessly as if waiting for a miracle to happen. Although I had a feeling it would not._

_"Malik...", I heard him say, voice gentle and calm, yet hoarse and suffering. I looked up at him. The hand that had previously been placed over his mouth came up to my face. He wiped his thumb over my cheek, smearing blood there but prevented a tear from falling nevertheless. He smirked. "Don't cry..."_

* * *

><p>The canteen was filling up with hungry students at noon time. In the far corner of the room, at a lonely table sat a young, blond student who did not at all seem to enjoy his meal. Malik constantly poked a tomato with the plastic fork in his hand. It was not like he did not like the food or was not hungry. He was deep in thought yet again and in his stand-by modus he could not focus on eating very well. It was a routine for him to sit alone at a table in the corner, torture his food and muse about a handful of things he needed to think about. And today the need to think was very urgent. He had been spacing out in class all day again. He really, <em>really <em>needed to clear his mind.

Bakura entered the canteen together with his twin brother Ryou. He looked around the room and his brother noticed him doing so. "Who are you looking for?"

He hesitated for a moment. "Mariku."

Ryou seemed to almost jump at the mention of his lover's name. "O-oh... I think he's not eating here today", he responded, voice trailing off when he remembered the previous day. Mariku had hardly spoken to him since then, had skipped a few classes too, and he kept blaming himself for it. 'I should probably apologize to him when I see him again...'

His brother seemed to have found something interesting though, for he went straight to a table in the corner. Ryou was torn out of his thoughts and followed the other Touzoku to wherever he was going. Bakura's lips curved up in a smile as he came to a halt in front of his destination, Ryou right behind him. The younger one of the twins looked over his brother's shoulders and made a confused noise before he jumped in front of his brother.

"Malik-san!" he exclaimed cheerfully upon recognizing the other teen. However, Malik was so deep in his own confusing thoughts that he had even overheard the non too quiet greeting. Ryou looked at his brother in confusion when he received no response. Bakura merely chuckled at the blond before he leaned over the table, one forearm resting on its surface. His pale fingers grabbed the tanned teen's chin and forced him to look up from his plate. He heard Ryou gasp at the bold action but could not care less.

Malik was forcefully torn out of his day dreaming when he felt someone grab his chin and, without too much force, tilt his head to look up into mahogany eyes. Realization dawned on him immediately. He backed off with a start and almost fell out of his chair.

"B-Bakura! What-! What did you do that for?" he blurted out, his cheeks tinted a violent red that not even Ryou was oblivious to.

The addressed teen only smirked and straightened up again, sitting down opposite the flushing blond. "You just wouldn't look up, so I made you do it, simple as that."

Malik growled and cursed something in Arabic under his breath, which neither of the twins were able to catch or understand, before he made himself comfortable in his seat once more. Ryou followed their example and sat down beside his brother, uneasy. He felt a little uncomfortable around the two after what had just happened. He mused about how they knew each other so well. Bakura was bold, sure, but he would not get so close to a person he hardly knew. That led Ryou to the assumption that they had to know each other a bit better than he had always thought. He narrowed his eyes, watching them argue.

"You're damn jumpy, you know. And all alone at the table in the corner. Have you always been so emo?"

"What? Do I look like an emo to you?"

Bakura shrugged. "They don't always look the same. Do you have cuts on your arms?"

"No!"

"Prove it."

"I don't have to prove anything."

"Then you admit you have cuts on your arms?"

"No! I don't have any freaking cuts on my arms!" Ryou watched them incredulously. He noticed that, by now, he was not the only one anymore who was watching the little fight. Quite a few students had stopped what they were doing to turn into their general direction and see what was going on. Like Ryou himself, most were confused and shocked to see Thief King Touzoku and Malik Ishtar converse in such a familiar way. Not too far away from them sat a group of girls, among them was a girl with purple hair, Miho. One of the girls leaned closer to Miho, whispering, "Miho-chan, what did you say happened yesterday?"

Miho averted her eyes from the trio and to her friends, an excited glint in her eyes. "They showed up together at the movie theatre."

"Who did?" another girl questioned curiously.

"Bakura-kun and Malik-san."

"What were they doing there?"

A brunette gave a snort. "They watched a movie, what else would you do there?"

"Yes, but", Miho interrupted and all girls looked back at her, "_that _is exactly the point. I mean, they went there together and do you know what Bakura-kun said?"

"No, what?"

"He said that he wouldn't mind dating Malik-san." The girls all gasped in unison.

"What?"

"Really?"

"And what did Malik-san say?"

"Hmm..." Miho had to search her memory then. She did not remember what he said but he looked very upset about it. "I don't remember but he was like _really _flustered."

"Maybe they are dating already?"

"No", a redhead said, "If Malik-san was flustered then I think they aren's dating yet."

"And what if they're just friends?", another voice suddenly joined in. The girls looked up at the student who was about to sit down at their table.

"Hey, Anzu!" Miho greeted cheerfully.

"You're talking about yesterday again, right Miho?" the brunette named Anzu asked. The other girl rubbed the back of her head and giggled sheepishly.

"I just can't stop thinking about it. I mean, that's really something."

Anzu raised an eyebrow at that and began to eat meal. "Really? You've practically been stalking those two all morning."

"Uhm..." Miho flushed slightly from embarrassment, "L-like I said, it's nothing I would want to miss."

"Hmm...", the brunette mused, "To me it looks like you're afraid they get too close. Because you still li-" Before Anzu could finish Miho had already stood from her chair.

"I-I think I need to go to the rest room!" she quickled said and within seconds she had left the canteen leaving all the other girls confused. Except for Anzu. She knew that Miho still had a huge crush on Bakura and even if she liked Malik, she would never approve of their supposedly 'relationship'.

"You can tell me."

"I'm not _fucking _telling you something that is not _fucking _true!"

"But you do that all the time."

"I don't!"

"You do."

Malik seemed to finally lose his temper, or maybe he had already lost it long ago, and stood from his chair, making it fall down behind him and slammed his hands on the table. "Just _shut the fuck up!"_

Bakura chuckled in amusement. "You're making quite a show for the audience", he said and pointed a thumb over his shoulder behind him to draw the blond's attention to the other students that were watching. And that was about the whole canteen. Malik was frozen in his place at the table and hesitantly looked around. He flushed red and hastily sat back down. To Bakura's surprise he muttered a quick 'sorry' but did not dare to look up again.

"You're unusually tense today", the more mature Touzoku stated and this time Malik did not say anything back but remained perfectly silent. Bakura sighed at the lack of conversation and tried again. "What's wrong?"

Ryou was taken aback by how gently his brother had asked. It seemed to have the same effect on Malik but he seemed a bit less stressed after that. "It's just... I have a lot on my mind", he explained softly. And it was true. He had not had a nightmare about his father in ages and the fact that one had only come last night bothered him greatly. He had been trying to remember the details of said dream but everything was just a blurry memory as if it had happened a decade ago. The only thing he remembered clearly was that he had been scared, like he would be in reality, too, if his father ever return - which was impossible.

Bakura observed Malik as he spoke and went silent once more. He looked genuinly stressed and upset about something. He decided against pressing further. He was sure Malik would tell him when he felt the need to. Now he needed to lighten the mood again. "Hey", he said and successfully made the blond look up for the first time since the outburst. His lavender eyes held countless emotions. He was like an open book at the moment. And the word written all over his features was 'hurt'. "How about you come to our place after school?"

"What?" Malik asked, blinking a few times.

"Brother?" Ryou said uncertainly. Bakura only gave him a reassuring look and turned back to Malik.

"We've been at your place already. Now it's your turn."

"But..." He had to think back to their first dinner together, the day they met. Mariku had been present, too. Did that mean they would invite him as well? "...Mariku...", Malik said, telling him what he was concerned about without saying much.

"I guess he won't want to come. He seems pissed off about something-" Malik's eyebrow twitched visibly. Yes, about _something. _Whose fault might that be? "-so we'll just have to live without him for tonight."

Malik pondered that for a moment. 'Bakura's right. Mariku is pissed off, probably letting out his anger somewhere outside and they won't have a date for a while. Or at least not today. ...it's okay to accept, right?' Instead of saying anything, he simply nodded which made Bakura grin in satisfaction.

"Good. Then we'll meet up after school." Bakura did not specify _where _they would meet but he could imagine where he should go, so Malik nodded once more in agreement.

* * *

><p>'Should I ask or not?' Ryou wondered for the umpteenth time that day. He glanced over to his brother who was walking beside him on their way through the long hallway. 'It would be safe to simply... <em>not<em> ask, I know, but...'

"Bakura?" he found himself saying without thinking. Said teen turned to eye his brother with mild curiousity, one eyebrow raised. 'Okay... now I have to ask.'

"Uhm...", he started uneasily. "You know... I was wondering..." Bakura saw the discomfort and stopped walking. He waited patiently and crossed his arms over his chest. Ryou had also come to a halt and was standing in front of his brother, unconsciously fiddling with a strand of white hair. "...uhm..."

"Just spit it out, Ryou," Bakura demanded when his patience left him.

Ryou jumped slightly but pulled himself together. "You... you and him, you seem to get along really well..."

"Him? You mean Malik?" His brother nodded. Bakura had to think for a moment. He had not really come up with something that would explain why they acted so amicably. But then he knew something he could say. "You see, since Mariku seems too busy with other things...", he paused for a moment to send a knowing glare towards his brother, "I kinda had to find someone else to hang out with." There, that should do, Bakura thought.

"You two hang out together?"

"That's what I said."

At first the Ryou looked a little confused and taken aback but then, the part which Bakura disliked, he smiled happily. "That's great! So you two are actually friends? I'm so happy for you, brother!"

"'The fuck? I never said anything about him being my... _friend!"_ Ryou merely giggled at how embarrassed his brother seemed to be. It proved his theory of them being friends to be right, at least with his sense of logic.

Further down the hallway stood a small group of other high schoolers who were listening intently to the twin brothers' conversation. "He's not my friend!" they heard the furious twin yell. A boy with navy blue hair nudged another one in the side.

"Hey, did you hear that?" he asked the group, a vicious smirk on his face. "Sounds like Touzoku has a new friend. What do you think?" The gang chuckled darkly at that and turned their gazes back to the twins.

"I think it's the one from the cantene", a teen with brown hair said, "Y'know, that pansy that looked a lot like Ishtar?"

"Wasn't that Ishtar?"

"No, Ishtar's a lot more creepy than the wuss he was sitting with." the blunette nodded in agreement. A red haired girl, the only female in the group, then added her information.

"I heard some rumors about Touzoku."

"What rumors?"

She smirked evilly. "Miho witnessed something quite interesting yesterday. She said that Touzoku and some other guy went to the movies together. Maybe it was the same guy."

"Let's find that guy then. Boss will be _delighted_ to know we have something to use against Touzoku", he said with a smirk and the rest snickered as well.

* * *

><p>Malik stared in awe at the house before him. 'No', he thought, his eyes never leaving the building, 'that's not a house. That's a freaking mansion!' In front of the young Egyptian stood a beautiful mansion in Victorian style. There was a high fence and a gate protecting the house from unwelcome intruders. The way to the front door went through a front garden, decorated with various trees, bushes and flowers he did not even know existed. The house itself had white walls and midnight blue tiles and was decorated wherever it was possible, yet it did not look bad as the decorations were put where needed. All Malik could think was 'Awesome...'<p>

Bakura locked his, in comparison to the mansion, unimpressive car and turned to see Malik's expression. He chuckled, amused at how the Egyptian gawked at their house. "You like it?" Malik could only nod, still not taking his wide eyes off of the house.

"If this is your home...", he began and then finally turned and looked at Bakura. "Then why do you have such a shabby car?" Ryou could not surpress a giggle when he heard the comment, which gained him a glare from his brother.

"That's because I bought the car myself. Our dad is not stupid enough to entrust us with his money, credit card or account number", he replied as a matter of fact. "Besides, if I want my own car then I buy it with my own money and not with my old man's" With that Bakura hoped the subject would change. He was not exactly thrilled about talking about his father, not to Malik, and especially not with Ryou around, too. Nothing else was said and all three of them entered the house. Malik was once again in sheer awe as soon as he caught sight of the inner of the house, how huge it was and how expensive the furniture looked. Bakura went ahead into the living room and lazily threw his bag onto the floor and flopped down onto the couch. Ryou ascended the stairs, saying he would bring his bag into his room. Malik felt a bit lost in the huge house with no one near so he decided to join his host in the living room. He stood around uneasily, not sure whether he could simply sit down as if he was at home. The older teen raised one white eyebrow at him. "You're gonna sit down now or what?"

The Egyptian glared at him in response but sat down next to him nonetheless. 'It's so awkward...' Malik had never been to a friend's house before, mainly because he never had any friends to visit. And he and Bakura had met just a few days ago. He really did not know what he could talk about. The weather? No, that really was a bad idea, even Malik knew that. He raised his right hand to nibble on his thumbnail, something he did either when he was very nervous or just bored. In this case it was more nervousness than boredom. 'Come on, say something', he thought and had to debate whether he was referring to Bakura or himself. In the next moment the shrill sound of the ringing phone could be heard. Bakura sighed and went to pick up. Now Malik was all by himself again. He felt rather uncomfortable and hoped Ryou would come downstairs soon.

"Yeah?" was Bakura's only response upon picking up.

"Hm? Where are you?"

"...oh... 'kay... bye", with that the older twin hung up again. In the same moment Ryou came down again, now wearing some casual clothes instead of his uniform.

"Who was that?" he asked when he saw his twin hanging up. Bakura went back to the living room again, Ryou following.

"That was dad", he said, "He's in Tokyo right now. He's coming back today."

His twin brother gasped, putting a hand to his mouth. "Really? Then we have to cook something special today!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Bakura just gave a snort. "As if he'd deserve that", he muttered under his breath but Ryou had not heard it. Malik on the other hand had and began to wonder what their father might be like. 'Oh, wait', he thought, 'that means I get to know him, too.'

"You know", he said, drawing the twins' attention to him, "we can just do this another time. It's okay if it isn't today. I mean, if your father-"

"No, it's fine", the oldest teen interrupted, looking anything but amused for once. "You don't have to leave just because our old man randomly decides to show up. He'll have to deal with it." Malik gulped thickly. 'Deal with it'? What was he implying, that his father did not like visitors? Or maybe he just meant that he was hard to deal with.

"Fine", Malik huffed.

"Oh, I know what we'll make", Ryou said, ignoring their conversation completely, "But I'll need milk for that and we don't have any. Bakura, please go and buy some, alright?"

"Why me?"

The younger Touzoku put a hand on his hip, fixing his brother with a stern look. "Because you can't make your guest buy something."

"Then why don't you go?" his twin retorted.

"I have to start making dinner. You wouldn't do anything if I left the house."

Annoyed, Bakura let out a low growl but stood up to get his jacket regardless. As soon as said teen had left the house Ryou turned to the young Egyptian with a warm smile. Malik felt less uncomfortable, accepting the welcome gesture and returning it as best as he could. "So... what exactly are we cooking?"

"We?" the albino repeated, looking perplexed. He shook his head then and pointed to the living room, "The guest won't be the one to cook. You just make yourself comfortable. You can watch TV if you want to."

Malik held a hand up, both to silence the other boy and to signale that he was fine. "No, it's alright, I would actually feel better to help than to just sit around and have no idea of what to do." He laughed uncertainly and hoped the other would grant him his wish and let him help. He would feel even more awkward if he simply let the hosts do the work while he did absolutely nothing productive. Ryou hesitated for a moment but nodded and motioned for the other to follow him into the kitchen. Even a room as simple as the kitchen, a room to prepare food and wash dishes, took the blond's breath away. The first thing that caught his eye were the counters that all had the same elegant color - mahogany. The rest of the furniture was in suiting colors, mostly black and white though with some crimson. Every surface shone as if it had been polished just a minute ago, as if dust did not ever settle anywhere in the room. Malik began to wonder whether they also had maids and other staff. He would not be surprised, not after what he had seen already.

Ryou went straight to the tall refrigerator to gather the necessary ingredients. "Hey," Malik said as Ryou bent over to grab some eggs. He turned to the other teen with a questioning look. "You still have milk in your fridge", the blond stated, pointing to the cardboard box on one of the shelves.

The other's brown eyes followed his finger and he began to laugh. "Yes, I know."

"Then why did you..."

"I," the albino teen began, closing the fridge with an elbow, "I wanted him out for a while so I could talk to you."

Malik was rather surprised to hear so, but all the more curious now. "What do you want to talk about?"

Ryou set the ingredients down onto a counter and fully turned to his guest with a happy grin. "You're Mariku's brother. Of course I want to get to know you better. Besides..." he trailed off and took a knife out of the top drawer to hand it to the other boy. "My brother's friend is my friend, too." Malik's eyes widened, Ryou assumed he was just taken off guard but in truth the Egyptian was horrified how Ryou knew about them - about _them_? That sounded a bit wrong, Malik thought. He could not possibly know they were friends, or so, unless he had seen them together which was only when they were out to ruin their dates, so far. 'Wait', he told himself, 'he was in the canteen, too. He probably just assumed we're friends because of the way we talk.' He wanted to sigh in relief but that would have raised suspicion so he refrained from doing so and simply smiled.

"Well then", he said, now more confident again, and looked at the knife in his hand, pausing for a moment. "Uhm... what exactly am I supposed to cut?"

"Oh!" Ryou yelped, he had obviously forgotten about making dinner for a minute. He reached out and grabbed two peppers to hand them to his guest. "Please cut these in small stripes - Bakura hates them so I always cut them into extra small pieces so he can just swallow them."

'Oh? Not fond of peppers?' Malik thought, smirking in satisfaction at his newest discovery about the other Touzoku twin. "Alright." Ryou went to turn the oven on while the other busied himself with his new task.

"You know", Ryou began with a gentle voice. It never ceased to amaze Malik how completely and utterly different the identical twins could be. Ryou was so kind, considerate, gentle and many other sugar-coated adjectives that he could not name at the moment. Bakura, on the other hand, was ruthless, irritable and selfish. 'It's no wonder Ryou has a lover while he doesn't. If he doesn't stop being such a douchebag he'll never find himself someone who endures his screwed up personality. And his good looks won't help him that much either', Malik ended his train of thought with a vicious smirk before it faltered and he frowned, 'Uhmm... okay, pretend you never thought that.' "You're a very nice person, Malik."

Said teen smiled gratefully. "Thank you." He was not used to such praise, being the antisocial student he was.

"I've been thinking this the whole time that it is kind of strange for you to be friends with my brother."

"Hm?"

"Because you two are so different. I know my brother very well, we're twins after all so naturally I do, and he is anything but the friends-with-everyone-type. The only friend he has ever had is Mariku." Ryou stopped, a bittersweet smile on his lips. "Actually Mariku was the first friend for both of us. Bakura and I only ever had each other. He always protected me from other boys who didn't like me and therefore beat me up. He said he was fine with being only around me but I always wished we both would befriend someone." The whole story sounded very familiar to Malik. It had been the same with Mariku and him. His brother had always been the one to look after him and spend time with him. Neither of them ever made friends and Malik only found out that his brother had made friends when he had started to go out more often. He was happy for his brother, of course he was. That was what he had told himself but he knew he just denied the truth and lied to himself. The truth was that he felt very lonely when not even Mariku was there for him anymore. With his siblings either at work or out with friends Malik was always alone at home. He did not leave the house very often. What for? He only did so to go shopping or go for a walk to clear his head. But he was very much, undeniably lonely. That is until his life took this grave turn and his and Bakura's worlds were unvoluntarily thrown together.

"Opposites attract, I guess", he commented with a shrug that said he did not think it was a big deal. On the inside, however, Malik felt very warm and was rather thankful that Bakura was not around to read between the lines and turn his words to his advantage again.

"Yeah, I guess", the other agreed with a giggle.

"Speaking of which", Malik began and stopped cutting the pepper for a moment to turn to the other boy. "What brought you and Mariku together? You're as different as day and night, too."

The whitette laughed. "You're right. This is a weird story actually."

"Everything that includes my brother is weird", the blond commented, urging the other to continue.

"Well, we first _met _in middle school. Mariku and some other students were picking on me. A lot of students used to do so when I was younger so it's no wonder, really." The blond grimaced. Ryou had meant to make Mariku seem less like an ass by saying it used to be routine for people to bully him. To Malik it was still no excuse. Mariku of all people should know better than to pick on the weak as he had always been the protector for his own younger brother. "And", he stopped, giggling, "well, Bakura got really mad at him and they got into a fight."

"Who won?"

"Neither of them. They tied. And that's how they befriended actually. Because the fight had been so much fun to them. I don't understand how that can be fun but I'm really thankful that they stopped. Mariku was never mean to me ever again after that. It was rather... the exact opposite...," Ryou trailed off, sinking into his own thoughts and memories. Malik could not help but grin when he saw the other's face grow redder by the second.

"Then what did he do?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Ryou cleared his throat and tried to hide his face by turning away. "Well, most of the time he hung out with Bakura but when he didn't he talked to me and... we spent quite a lot of time. I began to realize that, unlike the others who bullied me, Mariku was not a bad person at all. He has an interesting personality and is hard to read. That's probably why I always wanted to know more about him." The story sounded a bit too normal for Malik's taste. The way Ryou was still hiding his eyes from him, he could _feel_ that he was leaving something out. "And that's about how we got closer to each other and... well..."

Malik was about to press further but Bakura seemed to have already returned. He slammed the front door shut, stomped into the kitchen and placed _five _milk cartons on the counter in front of his brother.

"There you go. Don't you dare send me to get anything else. That fucking store was _crowded_ with idiots!" Bakura lamented with a furious glare directed at his brother. Malik could only grin at the whole scene. They had not even run out of milk in the first place. "And why are you grinning?" Bakura asked, looking between the two who had knowing smirks on their faces.

"Oh, no reason...", Malik responded with a chuckle.

All three of them then busied themselves with whatever task needed to be fulfilled to make a good meal for Mr. Touzoku. At least that was what Ryou wanted, Bakura could not care less if his father liked the food or not - he was just pissed off by the fact that they were making something without meat but Ryou reminded him that the Ishtars were vegetarians and that they could not cook something with meat when they had Malik as their guest . And Malik, well, Malik wanted to do a good job simply because he wanted to please the host that was yet to come. Since he was allowed to stay for dinner, he thought, he should at least show that he was no useless guest. He also wanted to make a good impression, not because this was Bakura's and Ryou's father, no, it was because Malik liked to make a good impression, nothing else. Ryou gazed at the clock on the wall. Dinner was ready now and their father still had not shown up. As if reading his twin's thoughts, Bakura said "If he can't get his ass here in time, we'll just start without him."

The sentence was hardly finished when the door bell rang and Ryou stormed to answer the door immediately. His brother just rolled his eyes and remained on his spot leaned against the kitchen counter beside his Egyptian partner. Seconds later a man with blue hair entered the room, Ryou following close behind. His hair was long, tied back into a low ponytail, he wore glasses over his emerald green eyes and unexpectadly casual clothes - khaki pants and a light brown, short-sleeved shirt. He smiled upon seeing his other son. "Bakura, it's good to see you doing well, too." The man advanced on his son to give him a hug which he was denied when Bakura held a hand between the two.

"Yeah, whatever", he snarled. His father went a step back again with a hurt expression. "I thought you'd said that you'd be gone for much longer this time."

"I was but actually I'm just stopping by. I'll leave again in a few days."

"What?" the younger twin asked, looking even more hurt than his father just seconds ago. "You won't stay longer this time?" To his dismay, his father shook his head. He then finally noticed the fourth person in the room. He shifted his attention to the tanned teen with a confused look.

"And who is this?"

Bakura was the first to answer before Malik could even open his mouth to speak, "Malik Ishtar. He also goes to Domino High." His father seemed confused with that piece of information, not the name, but the fact that he was from the same school and obiously an invited guest. He gave Malik a polite smile regardless.

"Pleased to meet you. You must be Ryou's friend then."

"No, he's not", Bakura interfered once more which earned him another strange look from his father. It made the older twin even more furious because he knew what was going through that man's head. He did not believe his rude son was capable of making friends which is exactly why he had asked whether Malik was Ryou's friend. Bakura gritted his teeth with anger. "He's _my _friend", he finally said. He had not meant to say that but his rage had gotten the better of him as it did so often when his father was around.

Mr. Touzoku stared at his oldest son incredulously and Ryou acted quickly, sensing the tension. "Y-you know, you were just in time because dinner is ready. It's better if we eat now and leave the rest for later, right?" No one protested and they had dinner. It was mostly silent safe for the few noises that came with the cutlery hitting against plates. It reminded Malik of his first dinner with the Touzoku boys. The same awkward silence, the thick air and tension and the lack of conversation. Malik really did not want to interfere since he was only a guest but the pressure weighing everyone down was getting too much and he decided to do something against it.

"Mr. Touzoku, sir?" he said uncertainly. The man looked up at him, startled by the sudden, unexpected sound.

"Yes? Malik, right? Please call me Hideaki." Malik nodded, feeling less awkward now that he knew at least the man's first name.

"Hideaki-san. I heard you're on uhm... business trips most of the time. What exactly do you do?" Bakura wanted to slap his palm against his face at the boy's forced interest in his father's occupation. Then again, he thought, maybe Malik would be interested after all.

The oldest Touzoku smiled at the boy. "I'm an archeologist. That's why I'm often not at home for several months."

'Oh yeah, just defend yourself', Bakura commented inwardly. 'That won't make up for leaving your only family either.'

"I just returned from Egypt actually", the man went on, oblivious to his son's thoughts. Malik's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Egypt? Really?"

"Yes, we discovered the tomb of an until now unknown Pharaoh. And the museum here in Domino possesses some artifacts that resemble inscriptions we found, which is why we needed to come back here. By the way, Malik, you don't look very Japanese to me."

"Oh, actually-"

"That's because he's Egyptian, duh", Bakura finished for his friend, ignoring how rudely he had interrupted him. His father only seemed thrilled though.

"I knew it!" he said excitedly and Bakura rolled his eyes once more. "You speak Japanese without an accent. Were you born here?"

The boy shook his head. "No, my family and I moved here eight years ago."

"I see", the man said, eager to know more about the young Egyptian. "Then why did you move here?"

Malik shifted uncomfortably in his chair, fidgeting with his fork. "Well..." His eyes darted from one corner to another, not sure where they should settle. Bakura noticed his discomfort and promptly stood from his chair, plate and cutlery in his hands.

"Leave that for another time. You have to go now anyway", he said. His previously stoic expression was replaced by one of mischiev when he added, "Wouldn't want to make the rest of the family worry, right kiddo?"

"Very funny", Malik spat but was thankful for what his friend had done. He knew that changing the subject had been on purpose. He, too, rose from his seat and both went to the kitchen to put the dishes in the dishwasher. A minute later, Ryou joined them.

"Bakura? Could you bring Malik home? It's already dark outside."

"What, is he a baby or something? He can get home by himself."

His twin shook his head disapprovingly. "But he doesn't know the way. Please, brother", he pleaded with huge brown eyes. Bakura flinched at the sight 'Damn those fucking puppy-dog-eyes!'

"Fine. Come, brat, let's go before he starts crying." Dragging his friend along by the arm, he grabbed said teen's bag and his black trench coat and car keys and made his way to the front door. Malik was barely able to say goodbye to Ryou and his father and they had left already. They went up to Bakura's car, Malik now free from the other's grip. He noticed how unusually angry his partner seemed. His feet were practically kicking the ground with every heavy step and his back looked so tense.

They were on their sides of the car when Malik asked, "You don't like your father a lot, do you?"

"Just get in."

Malik obeyed but did not intend to drop the subject just now. "Is there a reason?"

Bakura ignored him this time and simply started the engine.

"Ryou really likes him."

Again he was ignored.

"And he seems like a really nice person."

That did it. The white haired teen promptly stepped on the brake and turned to the other boy, glaring daggers. "Listen, and listen _carefully_, because I'll only say this once." Malik, pressed into the front passenger seat, swallowed hard. He did not know Bakura very well, he admitted, but he had never seen him this enraged. "I won't talk about my old man. Especially not to _you._"

Malik felt like this was not only a touchy subject but also very important to the other teen. He was _dying _to know. "And...", he began, voice slightly shaky, "...what if I tell you something in exchange? Will you tell me then?"

This, no matter how angry he was, caught Bakura's attention. "Eager, aren't we? And what would you tell me?"

"Anything you want to know", Malik responded without thinking and immediately regretted his decision.

Bakura grinned. "Anything? Okay, deal. Then tell me what you were so worked up about this morning."

The Egyptian teen felt like he was shrinking in his seat. "Oh... uhm... you'll laugh."

"Can't be that embarrassing."

He sighed. "I had a nightmare last night... about my father. I don't remember much. All I do remember is... that I was scared and that... he..." Malik did not want to talk about it but he knew if he did not finish he would never know why Bakura hates his father. "He wanted to punish me for something I did wrong..."

"Problems with daddy, something we have in common then", Bakura commented.

"_Had _problems", Malik corrected.

"What kinds of problems did you have?"

"Hey, I already told you what you wanted to know! Now you have to tell me why you hate your father."

The older teen only smirked. "You never said that I could ask only once. You said I could ask 'anything' though."

"But that's not fair!" Malik protest, not caring whether he sounded like a child right now.

"That's life. Grow up."

"Bite me."

"Where exactly?" the older teen asked with a flirtatious wink. He laughed when the other boy's face went from a glorious bronze to a dark shade of red.

"J-jerk!" He then turned away and crossed his arms over his chest. He heard the other chuckle before finally taking off.

"When our mom and sister died", he heard him say. His lavender eyes widened a bit when he realized 'He's telling me?'. He immediately turned back to look at the other teen from the corner of his eye. "he was there for their funeral but one day after that he left for another one of his excavations. He left Ryou and me back with some idiot to look after us while he was gone. We were ten years old back then. It had been the worst year of Ryou's whole life..." He grabbed the steering wheel tighter, "and that bastard didn't even feel the need to come back for his only children's birthdays. And when he came back for the first time after their deaths, all he did was apologize for how long he'd taken. And Ryou forgave him on the spot but I didn't. He never stayed long, didn't contact us for months and suddenly came back, acting as if everything was fine. But _nothing _was." They had to stop because of a red light and Bakura used that chance to see the other's expression, his own dark with fury. "We don't need a father who doesn't care about us, not Ryou and I even less."

All Malik could do was watch his friend helplessly as he sunk into the pit of bitterness and hatred. "Bakura...", he said barely above a whisper. The other only returned his attention to the road ahead of them and drove on.

"That's what you wanted to know", he stated, not adding the 'now leave me alone' he said in his head. Malik found no words that would suit the situation. Saying 'sorry' would probably make Bakura angrier, telling him about his own 'daddy problems' was not an option either. In that case he did not care if it would be helpful to Bakura because that was something he generally never talked about, not even to his own family. It had been enough to tell the teen about the nightmare. He could and would not talk about his father.

They soon arrived at Malik's home and the boy got out of the vehicle wordlessly. He was about to walk to the front door when he stopped. 'No, I can't leave like that.' With that in mind he went back to the car and opened the door again. The other gave him a look of 'What do you want now?' and Malik decided he wanted to keep it brief.

"Thank you."

"For?" Malik was relieved when he saw that familiar grin again. He crossed his arms and smirked playfully.

"Decide for yourself."

"Bitch."

"Yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow." With that Malik closed the door again, never hearing what the other said the moment he did so.

"Bye, Malik", Bakura repeated as he watched the Egyptian teen walk to the front door. He had thought it would sound weird to call the teen by his actual name. However, it did not. He even found himself liking the sound of it. He grinned again, this time to the closed front door through which his friend had just vanished.

* * *

><p>AN: I didn't come up with their dad's appearance, I took it from the only time when you saw (the back of) him in the anime. I invented the name and green eyes though (because in Season 0 Ryou had green eyes).

So the rumors are spreading, we've learned a bit about the twins' past and got very little Deathshipping background information... almost nothing at all xD (And I have no idea what they cooked :'D And no offense to anyone about the emo-part!).

And what's this? A gang who doesn't like Bakura, huh? Chapter 5 will have a date again, hooray! Hope you liked it! See you next time (hopefully with a cover to this story~)


	5. Let Go And Dance  part 1

A/N: I am _very_ sorry everyone! This took so long because I'm still having problems with a virus that keeps coming back like a boomerang! In return I made this a long chapter! I hope that's good news for you. Speaking of **Good News:**

1) The cover to this fanfic is up! The link is on my profile.

2) This story is going to have a sequel! There's (very little) information on my profile. I hope you want a sequel because I have really good ideas and would appreciate some readers!

Thank you **J. L. Lunar** (I'm so happy you like both of my stories! And that alone is super special awesome enough!),

**ToriPANDAkun** (I'll see what I can do about the humor :)),

**Kuracakes** (tut mir leid, es ging wirklich nicht schneller. Bring mich bitte nicht um! Kriegst auch nen prank in diesem Chapter!),

**LadySunami** (thanks for correcting me! And yes, having them have their own dates _was_ my intention, you're sharp ;) Oh and you're right. I must have forgotten to write it in the end. I did imagine people giving them strange looks but yes, I kinda forgot to add it, sorry! That's Malik for you, not even Bakura can resist~)

and **KittyScarlet** (I can only promise that I'll try my best :))

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

Let Go And Dance - part 1

Run for it, was all Malik could think of as he ran out of the classroom and towards the exit as quickly as his legs would allow it. 'I can't believe them!' he yelled in his mind, 'Such nosy people!'. The poor Egyptian boy had been plagued by curious students all morning. Not only his own classmates, oh no, if it were only them then Malik would be able to cope with that. But students from other classes had confronted him about _it_ ever since the incident a few weeks ago. _It_ meant what Miho had been spreading throughout the entire school. _It_ was a rumor. A rumor about Malik and _him_. And by _him_ they meant none other than the Bakura Touzoku, the so-called 'Thief King' and 'Mister Right' for many girls - even _boys_ - attending this school. The rumors differed depending on whose mouth they came from. From Miho's mouth, for instance, it was mostly the truth, only it was told a bit... suggestively. And if you asked a girl from an upper class, Bakura's class maybe, the rumours would contain, well... 'mature content'. While the girls of Malik's class and age thought the reserved Egyptian and the handsome trouble maker were already dating or very close to it, the older students were placing bets if they had already... - Malik gulped as he remembered some older students asking him that question - if they had already done _it. _He shuddered at the mere thought of having intercourse with another guy. He would _never ever _take part in such activities with another male, let alone that certain male. Oh no, that would definitely _never _happen! Not even on the day hell froze over, Malik actually swore this to himself.

And now, approximately three whole weeks after that fateful trip to the movie theatre, he could hardly escape those rumors anymore. In the beginning it had not been as bad and it had not been common for other students to approach him about it but that had, of course, changed. Now even boys were asking him about his relationship with the older albino. In the beginning he used to answer them, the answer was naturally that there was nothing going on between the two of them except for 'hanging out together'. He should have dropped the 'together' after all. But the questions had become more in quantity and they had become more and more personal which bothered him greatly. He had meant to ask his friend whether he was being bothered by those questions just as much but he never asked. He thought asking Bakura might give him and everybody else the wrong impression. So he kept silent about it and avoided even looking at other students. Malik decided that this semester had started off even worse than when they had just moved here. He could not talk to anyone anymore without being asked about that topic again. He felt even more left alone than ever before. When he was younger he still had his brother. However, now Mariku prefered spending time with his lover over being there for him. He could not blame him though, it was understandable. And since the lovebirds had not had any date-like meetings in a while, he also never met Bakura anymore. And that left him completely to himself again.

He was now exiting that hellish place called 'school' and finally slowed down. Panting, he loosened his grip on his bag, letting it slide to the floor, and leaned back against the rough wall. He had enjoyed the peace before everything turned upside down. He had been lonely, too, but at least they never bugged him like this. More than once he had hoped that this whole 'mission' of separating his brother from his lover would finally end. He would not have anything to do with Bakura anymore and the rumors would disappear one by one. And peace would return to his life.

Having caught his breath again, he closed his shining lavender eyes and hung his head, focusing on the ground beneath his feet. A ridiculous thought came to his mind. Did he want that? 'Bakura...' Did he want to give up his new-found friend? His very first and only friend? He shook his head gently. Sacrifices had to be made. To regain his peace would also mean regaining his brother. And that was alright. In exchange for his best friend he would get his brother back. He mused. And then his eyes widened. 'Whoa! Since when was there a 'best' before the 'friend'?'. No, no, no. Just because Bakura was his only friend did not mean he was his _best _friend. Thankfully, he had only thought that and it would definitely not slip out on accident. Especially not in front of Bakura. That would only give him another reason to tease him which he wanted to avoid at any cost.

"Hey there", he heard a husky voice say. His head jerked up immediately. He had been spacing out again, he urgently needed to sort things out with himself. But for now he had no time to worry about that. What he was now worrying about where the three figures in front of him. They were other high schoolers, no doubt. The young Egyptian let out an annoyed sigh. They were surely here to ask him those questions again. But he remained calm, for now, since that was one of his major strengths. The teen in the middle, a boy with navy blue hair and deep brown eyes, spoke, "You're Malik, ain'tcha?"

Malik successfully refrained from grimacing at the horrible speech and instead nodded. All of them grinned widely and the tanned boy thought that maybe this was not going to be a nice round of simple questions this time. On closer inspection, he noticed that they had to be about as old as his brother or the twins. He did his best to hide his unease towards this uncomfortable situation, but he could not deny that he never felt quite alright around older students. And these did not look very friendly, he might add.

"We gotta talk to you." With a nod of his navy head he motioned for the younger student to follow him around a corner where they would be able to talk privately. Malik did not at all like where this was going but did he have a choice? Probably not. Who knew what they would do if he refused to 'talk' to them. And so he obeyed and followed the three students behind the nearest wall in the shadow of the school building.

With the wall against his back again, this time not quite of his own free will, he crossed his arms over his chest to signale that he wanted to get this over with and was not willing to stay longer than needed. He hoped to seem more confident by doing so. In his opinion, he was doing a fine job. His analysing amethyst eyes fell upon the two other high schoolers. They were both taller than the boy that had spoken earlier. One of them had common brown hair and, in all honesty Malik could only marvel at the well-built, tall figure. The blond unconsciously shifted his weight from one foot onto the other, a nervous gesture. His impressed orbs drifted to the other figure. The third member of the little group had wild black hair and was the tallest and most robust-looking one of the three. What especially caught the blond's eye was the scar on his left temple that gave him an aura that told everyone who dared to approach him 'Don't mess with me or else...'. He silently gulped when imagining what might follow the 'or else'. He admittedly felt anything but comfortable around these guys and the smug grins on their faces were not helping either.

"Heard you're friends with Touzoku", the blue-haired 'leader' explained.

Malik raised an eyebrow, playing the uninterested. "So?"

"So, you see, we could use your help, if ya know what I mean." As he said that the tallest of the three started to clench and unclench his fists and Malik got the hint. This was not about 'help'. Helping means you do not have to do it. This was forcing him to 'help'. Yet Malik kept his cool and remained in his role as the annoyed and uninterested. He watched the other through bored, half-lidded eyes.

"'Help'?" he repeated with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Yeah, you see Touzoku owes us quite a lot. Used to be our leader an' all but one day he decided he didn't need us anymore and left the gang", the blunette began. So this was not about their relationship after all. Malik narrowed his eyes in suspicion. No, this was solely about Bakura and his problems. "So we thought that maybe you could convince lil Touzoku to give us what we want."

"And you really expect that I can convince him?" Malik huffed in annoyance. "Why don't you ask him yourself? Scared?" Watching the tallest teen's face twist with anger, Malik cursed his big mouth. To his surprise, the leader smirked smugly.

"Scared?" he repeated in an amused manner. "I must say, blondie, I like your guts. Unfortunately..." Malik did not even have the time to blink when a rock hard fist collided with his nose, making a cracking sound. His skull hit the brick wall behind him and he slid down, sitting on the floor. He clutched his hurting nose with both hands, blood dripping and staining his uniform and the dirty ground. He let out a pathetic whimper that forced itself out due to the excruciating pain. His shoulders trembled and his eyes were shut tightly. He hardly paid attention to the leader who bent down to be on eye level with his crouching figure, a smirk ever present on his smug features.

"Unfortunately that won't help ya", he finished, earning a pained yet furious groan from the beaten boy. Malik cracked open one eye, his vision blurry from unshed tears. But he still managed to glare daggers at the teen who was slowly straightening up again.

"Now go crying to your little friend and tell him to give us our stuff back."

"Like hell I will", the blond hissed dangerously.

The other shook his head mockingly. "You just don't know what's healthy for you, huh? Okay, listen you little fuck." He bent down once more to grab the collar of Malik's bloody uniform, faces mere inches apart. "If Touzoku don't return the stuff then _you_ will be first to pay, and Touzoku's next." The blood stained shirt was released with a push against the wall and Malik winced in pain.

All three of them turned away from him. "And don't even think about hiding, cuz we'll find you anyway", the leader said over his shoulder as they walked away.

Now aware of the iron taste in his mouth, Malik spit out the blood and carefully rubbed his damaged nose. "Bastards..." He remained on the ground for a while thinking about what to do next. 'Telling Bakura is not an option. That's exactly what they want. This might be his problem but now it's my problem, too. I'm not doing them the favor of running to him. I'm no freaking tattletale. But if I don't tell Bakura then they'll come after me again... I'm no coward! And unlike them I know how to use my brain. Next time I'll be prepared. Just you wait.' Having his mind set up, he finally stood up and brushed his clothes off of dust and dirt. He glanced down at the blood stains on his shirt and pants. How was he going to explain this?

* * *

><p>"Hey, princess, who or what ruined your pretty face?" came the mocking voice of his older brother. Malik stared irritatedly at the taller blond who was sprawled out over the couch.<p>

Great, he thought. He had hoped that nobody was home. Hope crushed, he had to come up with a believable excuse now. Fortunately, he had taken off the midnight blue jacket of his uniform. The dark purple shirt he was wearing underneath had been turned inside out, just in case the stains were visible. He had also tried to get rid of the now dry blood on his face. Of course, the damage was still visible because his nose was slowly turning from red to violet. What he was glad about was that the bleeding of his nose had finally stopped and he would not have to worry about this anymore, at least.

"...ran into a door", he said at long last.

Mariku was obviously trying to hold in his laughter. How considerate. "You serious?"

The youngest Ishtar ignored the question and left for his room. He had explained himself and his brother seemed to buy it. Nothing to worry about. In his ignorance, however, he did not notice the pair of violet orbs watching his every move. They narrowed suspiciously as they observed the boy climb the stairs.

"A door, huh...?" Mariku muttered to himself, not loud enough for the other to hear.

Malik locked the door behind him and went to the mirror. He sighed hopelessly as he inspected his reflection. He looked horrible. His nose was swollen and almost completely purple by now. Dried blood was still visible beneath it and on his clothes. He might have been able to fool Mariku - which had been suspiciously easy, but Malik was too worn out to care - but he would never be able to convince his other siblings. He needed to wash his clothes and make sure Isis would not see them. He wanted to rip his hair out. Why blood? It was so hard to get blood stains out of clothes. And what about his nose? There was only one way: Make-up. Unfortunately, the only person in the whole house who possessed something as girly as that was, of course, the only female.

So, after he had put his clothes into the washing machine he went to sneak into his sister's room. Ra help him if she ever found out about this. He found a small box on her bedside table and, to his luck, there was everything he needed.

He sighed in relief when everything had been taken care of before anyone returned home. His nose looked as good as new and so did his uniform. The only thing that might raise suspicion was the missing make-up. He could only hope Isis would not notice.

* * *

><p>"Malik, could you...", Rishid started and turned around to look at the boy he had addressed, only to see that the other was not even listening. What he was listening to was his pair of earphones, filling his ears with music at a probably deafening volume. The oldest Ishtar sighed and approached the couch the boy was currently sitting on, trying to deal with his homework. How he could concentrate when the music was so loud that even Rishid coul hear it, he did not understand. When he was close enough, he reached for the cables and freed his brother's ears from the blaring music. Malik instantly looked up at him. Attention gained, mission accomplished.<p>

"Rishid, what's the matter?" he questioned, maybe a bit more harshly than he had intended but he really did not like being interrupted so suddenly. Fortunately, Rishid was no person that liked to beat around the bush.

"Isis just called."

"Yes?"

"She wants you to come to the museum." Malik gave him a puzzled look but got off the comfortable couch regardless, leaving his ipod where it was, not even bothering to turn it off. Mariku who just turned off the TV was immediately struck by curiosity and picked up the earphones to hear whatever his little brother had been listening to. "Is that Lady Gaga?" Malik flinched and heard his older brother begin to laugh maniacally in the background. He merely closed his eyes and massaged one of his stressed out temples.

"So, Rishid", he began, trying his very best to ignore his cackling brother who was by now laughing so hard that he had to hold his sides. "What..." Another fit of laughing and a blond eyebrow twitched dangerously. "Why does Ishizu want me in the museum? ... And you! Shut it, will you! And that's NOT Lady Gaga!"

Ignoring the loud background as best as he could, the bald man went on. "She said it was about the Sennen Items." And Malik did not need any more words. He was about to leave when he decided he wanted to take his ipod with him after all and went to retrieve said object. It proved to be an easy task since Mariku was too busy laughing his sorry ass off to even notice his brother approaching. The 'chick of the nest' huffed irritatedly and took his jacket and keys before he finally left the house.

He sighed contently at the sight that greeted him - his very own motorcycle, his _beloved _motorcycle. Oh how he had longed to possess it and on his sixteenth birthday finally, _finally_ his wish had been fulfilled and he got this wonderful, incomparable vehicle. Its red, shiny surface, the metallic detail on every other part and its amazingly, according to Malik, _hot_ design. He approached his 'baby' and affectionately stroked the leather-covered seat. He never got tired of riding it. If there was anything that could make him cheer up when he was in a particularly bad mood, then it was this bike. One ride and he was over the moon. With a smile he took the helmet from the handlebar and put it on, just in case.

He drove rather quickly because he had a bad feeling about this. If Isis wanted him to come to the museum, then something must have happened. Rishid had mentioned the Sennen Items. Those were artifacts that were officially property of the Domino Museum in which his sister worked. All seven of them had been imported from their homeland, Egypt. Two of them originally belonged to the Ishtar family but they were both given to the museum. And one of them - the Sennen Ring - had been stolen over a year ago. Until now they still had not gotten it back. The police had probably given up long ago.

When they had moved to Japan and Isis got her job at the museum she decided to get rid of the two items they possessed together with the bad memories. Lost in his thoughts, Malik was almost too late to brake in front of a red light. Once still, he put a hand to the bridge of his nose, squeezing slightly. 'Don't think about it. Don't think about it', he chanted inwardly. Thinking about Egypt was still not an easy task for him and it would never be. And no one except for those who had seen it would ever understand him.

Malik lost no time and literally stormed into the large building that was the city's only museum and the biggest in the whole region. He quickly greeted the lady at the reception and went to the room the Sennen Items were kept in. He was about to round the last corner when he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and hid behind the wall to... he really did not want to call it 'eavesdrop' but it was exactly that. There stood a woman with long ebony hair and a long traditional Egyptian tunic, a red jacket to cover it - his sister. But she was talking to someone. Malik's eyes widened. He knew that face.

"Please Mrs. Ishtar. I can understand that you have a certain attachment, seeing as two of the artifacts belong to your family but-"

"Exactly", Ishizu rudely interrupted the man. The man with long blue hair, bound together in a low ponytail, big, round glasses and behind them emerald eyes - Hideaki Touzoku. "But I'm not handing any of these artifacts over. They are property of this museum. And besides, it was only a year ago that one of them was stolen."

Mr. Touzoku seemed to struggle for the right words. Sweat was already forming on his brow. Ishizu could be very intimidating if she only wanted to. To emphasize this she put her hands defiantly on her hips and practically glared him down. "Mrs. Ishtar, we _need_ these artifacts. Look", he said and pulled a piece of paper out of his jacket to hand it to the angered woman. Malik was not able to see what was on the piece of paper but from what he could decipher it looked like a photo. "This is a photograph of the inscriptions we recently discovered in a tomb in Egypt. And look at this", he said excitedly and pointed at something in the picture. "This, can you see it? It looks exactly the same as one of the artifacts here. We also discovered that-"

"No."

"What?" the man asked, taken aback by the cold reply.

"I said 'no' and I am not going to change my mind. If you needed to compare them, take photos of the artifacts. But they are _not _leaving this museum. Did I make myself clear, Mr. Touzoku?"

"But, Mrs. Ishtar-!" he tried to protest but Isis was literally pushing him out of the room. Malik, alerted by the fact that they were coming his way, quickly vanished around another corner and watched his sister drag the archeologist out of the building.

"And now I would appreciate it if you could leave. Come again if you want to take the pictures. Other than that..." They were finally outside now and Isis let got of the startled man who whirled around to face her with a desperate look on his face. "Have a nice day." And suddenly that sweet sentence did not sound so sweet anymore with the venom dripping from each word and the death glare she was giving the poor man. Without another word she turned around to reenter the museum, leaving Mr. Touzoku as shocked as he was. Back in the room of the Sennen Items she turned to a massive stone tablet that hung on the wall behind protective glass. Her eyes were fixed on the inscriptions before them but did not care about them at all when she said "How long are you going to stand there, Malik?"

"It was really horrid of you to treat him like that", the boy commented as he came out from his hiding spot. His sister turned to face him with an unaffected expression.

"And you were eavesdropping", she countered.

Malik shrugged his shoulders casually. "You told me to come here so here I am. What was it you wanted?"

His sister went into the other direction to the glass that protected the remaining six Sennen Items. The one on the far left was the Sennen Scale, a golden, old-fashioned scale that was said to be able to weigh the heart of people. Beside it, on a red pillow, sat a golden eyeball, the Sennen Eye, which was said to have the power to read a person's thoughts. Next was the Sennen Key, a key in the shape of an ankh - the only Sennen Item that did not have the usual eye pattern - which allowed the weilder to see a person's soul. Then, in the middle, there was the Sennen Puzzle, an upside down pyramid pendant of which only little was known. Some believed that it once belonged to a Pharaoh whose name was never mentioned in any inscriptions or stories. And then there was the Sennen Torc which once belonged to their beloved mother and was passed down onto Isis. It was said that its weilder would be able to see the future. The last one in the far right corner was what Malik never wanted to lay eyes on ever again - the Sennen Rod. A long gold rod, decorated with an eyeball and two wing-like parts sticking out of it. It already looked wicked in Malik's opinion. He hated it with every fiber in his body. There was only one emotion he held for this item that was stronger than the hatred - fear.

Isis pulled a bunch of keys from her pocket and opened the show case. Malik could imagine where she was going with this and his guess was proven right when she took out the golden necklace and rod. She held the two items out for him to take. "I want you to take those and hide them."

Malik held a hand up to build a defensive wall between him and the artifacts. "No. I'm not touching that thing", he said and pointed at the Sennen Rod in her one hand.

Isis sighed frustratedly but gave him a sympathetic look. "Malik... Look, I know you didn't even want to see it ever again but they need to be protected."

"Why? Are they not safe where they are?" Malik retorted.

"No, they are not and you know that just as well as I do. The Ring was stolen a year ago and only a few weeks ago someone tried to break into the museum again. They are definitely not safe even if the safety measures have been improved. And I don't trust this Touzoku."

Malik's heart skipped a beat when his sister said the last line and he had to quickly mask his shocked face. For a moment he had thought of Bakura instead of Hideaki Touzoku. Many confusing thoughts entered his mind all at ones. He was friends with Bakura after all. Isis did not seem to remember that his name was Touzoku as well or else she would have questioned him about his friend already. So what if she found out that he was friends with the son of the man she did not trust? That he was friends with the 'Thief King'? Now he was wondering which one was worse in her eyes, being dating another male or being friends with a criminal? He had never even thought about it in that way. That was probably because he had not planned on befriending his 'partner in crime' in the first place. He had to stop thinking about it. This had absolutely nothing to do with what was going on right now.

"Still you can't just take them, Isis", he said at long last.

"Oh yes, I can. Those two belong to our family after all", she reasoned.

"You can't hide them forever."

"No, but at least until Mr. Touzoku gives up and leaves the country again." Malik sighed in defeat. She could be so stubborn sometimes.

"Guess you've made up your mind already", he muttered under his breath. "And _where _am I supposed to hide them?"

The raven haired woman smiled and approached her brother with the artifacts in her hands. "I'll leave that to you. Hide them well and don't tell a soul."

"...alright"

* * *

><p>'Today has been a screwed up day...' the young Egyptian thought as he sat in front of his opened journal. 'I haven't made an entry in ages.' Keeping a journal was for girls, or so he had heard, but he had gotten this small, black book as a gift when they had just moved to Japan and therefore it meant a lot to him. He had not had the time to make any new entries for a while. Most of the time he had been too absorbed in his school work or learning. Living up to Japan's standards was no easy task which he had been taught the hard way by his sister. She wanted him and Mariku to be successful later on. Of course she would. It was usually something a mother should worry about but they had no mother. Not anymore.<p>

Malik picked up a pen and began to write:

_'It's been ages since my last entry and quite a few things have happened since then. There's a lot I could write about but the biggest news is that Mariku has a boyfriend - weird right? Could hardly believe it myself in the beginning but Ryou, the boy he's dating is a really kind person. I can see what he sees in him..._

_Oh, and I have... well, I've made my very first friend I guess. Or rather, I hadn't meant to, hadn't even tried to. It just happened. He's Ryou's twin brother and his name's Bakura. He's the type of person I would have never seen myself hanging out with. He's rude and ruthless and he doesn't care a lot about others. But he can also be considerate and caring if he only wants to. He cares a lot for his brother. He might treat him harshly but he's very concerned about him. He's a lot different towards me though. He mocks me whenever he can. But I think it would be boring if it was different. And admittedly, sometimes it's quite funny. He also thinks he's the best. Of course he is not. That idiot...'_

Malik paused thoughtfully for a moment. He had not seen Bakura in a while. It was Friday already and the last time had been at the beginning of the week and then he had not seen him again. Malik had been surprised when he did not show up again but did not want to ask Ryou or anybody else. It would seem as if he was worried and with all those rumors he did not need anyone to think that. Because he was not worried. 'Why would I?' he asked himself coldly. But who could he fool? Not even himself, honestly.

He laid his arms on the table and crossed them to place his chin on them. He sighed. 'I'm not worried. I'm just...' He blew an irritating strand of hair out of his face and pouted to himself. 'I'm just a little... concerned, that's all', he confessed and came to the conclusion that he was indeed worried, if only a little bit. This was his bes- _only _friend he was talking about. He closed his journal, deciding to continue later on. He got up and out of the room, grabbing the key for his motorcycle and his beige coat and headed to the front door.

Isis who had come home about an hour ago poked her head around the corner when she heard the rattling sound of the key. "Where are you going?" she asked.

Malik stopped and looked at her over his shoulder. "To... to a friend", he said before he realized that this had probably not been the best answer.

But his sister gave him a knowing smile. "Alright, but don't come home too late. Or are you staying at your _friend's _place?" What had the emphasis been for, Malik wondered but shrugged it off. He turned around fully and scratched the back of his neck.

"Well... no. I had meant to come back today", he said uneasily. What was wrong with her? Since when did she offer him to spend the night somewhere else? He narrowed his eyes suspiciously as she replied with a cheerful 'Alright!' and went back into the living room. He decided to simply ignore it for now and leave.

* * *

><p>"Why am I doing this?" Malik mumbled to himself, now standing in front of an impressive mansion. He took off his helmet and hung it on the handlebar of his bike and went up to the front door. Only a few seconds after he had rung the bell, the door opened to reveal the head of the Touzoku family - Hideaki Touzoku.<p>

"Oh, it's you. Good evening", the man greeted with a polite smile.

Malik returned the gesture and added the customary Japanese bow out of mere politeness. "Good evening, sir." For a brief moment he thought back to earlier that day when he had seen the same man in the museum, arguing with his sister.

"Well, what brings you here? Oh, please, come in", he urged and held the door open for the young Egyptian to enter who muttered a quick 'thank you' in return.

"I wanted to... to visit Bakura", he said hesitantly. Saying such a normal thing had been more difficult than expected. He had never needed to use that phrase before because he never visited anyone by himself. The older male kept smiling regardless.

"He is up in his room, I think. It's nice of you to pay him a visit. He's been bored out of his mind ever since he'd fallen sick."

Malik blinked in surprise. "He is sick?"

Hideaki returned the surprised expression. He had probably assumed that Malik had known about this. "Well, he is better now. He actually wanted to go to school yesterday but I insisted that he recovers fully before going back to school. Strange, he used to despise going to school so much that I had to force him when he was younger."

The blond would have laughed at the image of a little Bakura clinging to his bed, screaming that he did not want to go to school, if not for the great amount of worry he was feeling. If he had known that his friend was ill, he would have visited sooner.

"Anyway, you know where his room is right?" But the teen shook his head no. "It's up the stairs, the third door on the right."

"Thank you", Malik responded briefly and lost no time in ascending the stairs to his destination. He knocked carefully on the mahogany door and waited for a response. None came. Hesitantly, he opened the door and peered inside.

The room was at least three times as big as Malik's own. The walls were painted in blue, the carpet was blue with black embroidery, the curtains, however, were pitch-black. The bed in the center of the room was, like the desk and doors too, made of mahogany wood and had midnight blue covers. And in the middle of this dark blue ocean lay a figure, sprawled over the satin sheets. Bakura lay there, fully clothed, on the bed with his eyes closed, seemingly sound asleep.

Malik silently entered the room and reflexively closed the door behind him. Without making a sound he approached the bed on which his friend lay. He knelt down and was face to face with the sleeping boy. Cocking his head slightly to get a better look he observed the peacefully set features. The uncontrolable mane of white hair lay fanned out beneath his pale cheek. A soft, steadily breathing sound reached his ears, almost inaudible. The chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. Malik had never seen him so calm and peaceful. Then again, he thought, resting his elbows on the edge of the bed, he had not known him long enough to think like that. Yet it felt so comfortable to simply watch the other sleep. It was relaxing in itself and Malik felt so at peace himself now that he did not feel like leaving. But he should. He should leave and let the albino rest and recover. He let his chin rest on his palm and heaved a sigh. He really did not want to leave just yet. He found a strand of white hair entangled with equally snowy white eye lashes. He moved his hand up and gently brushed the irritating bangs out of the teen's face, letting his fingertips stroke pale skin while doing so. Staying for a bit longer would not harm him, right?

He shook his head and pulled his hand back as if it had been burnt. No, he really should leave. With that in mind, he began to stand up. He never got the chance to do so, however, for a pale hand shot out to grab his wrist and keep him down. He let out an inevitable yelp of surprise and turned to the now fully opened mahogany eyes staring at him. That grin returned to his features as if it had been waiting for the right moment to creep up. Malik quickly recovered from his shock and masked it with a furious expression.

"What the hell? Where you just pretending to be asleep?"

The other only smirked. "I'd been asleep until you came up the stairs."

"I wasn't even loud. You can't have heard me", the Egyptian reasoned.

Bakura sat up on the large bed beside his friend, letting go of his wrist, and stretched his sleepy limbs. "No, you weren't, but I still heard you."

Malik huffed in annoyance. He was sure the other had just woken up and was too proud to admit it. Distracted by those thoughts, he was too late to realize how his partner took advantage of this by pushing him down into the soft sheets and placing himself over him. His eyes widened at the sight of the other on top of him, straddling his hips. Bakura leaned down so close that Malik could swear they were breathing the same air. That was reason enough for him to stop breathing for that moment. Tips of unruly white hair were tickling his face and neck. The Egyptian was too frozen to react in any way, not to mention say something, he simply stared. Bakura chuckled amusedly as the teen's tan cheeks turned red with alarming speed.

"So tell me, _Malik_", he began, saying the younger one's name with a proud British accent, "What brings you here into my room?" But the frozen teen had no idea how to reply even if he had been able to think clearly. With this proximity it was especially hard. He kept silent except for the rather audible gulp. "Well? Missed me?" the older teen mocked. He would have never guessed that this was not far from the truth though.

Malik finally found his strength again and used it to put his hands on the other's chest, pushing him half-heartedly. "Get off, Bakura." But there was no meaning in those words and Bakura heard it.

He leaned further in to whisper in the blond's ear "Beg me."

Malik looked away, embarrassed. "You wish."

"Maybe I do", he purred and took in the scent of the Egyptian's hair. He grinned as he recognized the fragrance to be jasmine. How fitting. He felt the other pushing him again but it was just as half-hearted as before.

"I... heard you were sick", he said, changing the subject.

And he was successful because Bakura leaned back to look at him but still did not get off of him. "So? Were you worried and came to visit me?"

"Actually... I did not know until I came here."

"What did you come for then?" the albino asked, curious now.

"Well..." Malik shifted slightly to get more comfortable. "I thought it was weird for you to be away from school for the whole week so..."

"So you came here", Bakura finished and the other nodded. "Well", he began and rolled off of Malik to sit on the edge of the bed again, the Egyptian following suit. "It was nothing, really. My old man just wanted me to stay home for the whole fucking week. He just wouldn't shut up until I agreed."

Malik chuckled slightly. "He sure is concerned about you."

Bakura snorted in return. "Yeah right."

The door flung open unexpectedly and revealed the albino's twin brother. Ryou's round brown eyes grew even wider as he noticed that his lover's brother was sitting in front of him.

"Oh, Malik! I didn't know you were here."

"And you seem to have forgotten how to knock", Bakura countered with an evil grin. "What if I'd been naked? I know it's nothing new because we're twins but still the s-"

"B-Bakura!" the embarrassed whitette chimed in, barely silencing his brother before he could finish his sentence.

"What's with that outfit anyway?" Bakura asked as he pointed at his brother's clothes. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans with two belts - brown and blue - a sky blue top and a black vest. His wrists were both adorned with belt-like bracelets. Malik did not see what should be wrong with the outfit. If anything, it looked good on him. And then he realized what was wrong. "Are you going out?" his twin brother inquired.

Ryou scratched his cheek sheepishly. "That's why I came into your room in the first place. Yes, I'm going out and I don't know how late it's going to be until I come back so..."

"Ah, I get it. Fine, do whatever you want. It's not like I can stop you." Bakura waved his hand dismissively and turned away from his brother. Ryou did not say anything and wordlessly left the room. When the door closed with a soft clicking noise, Malik turned to Bakura. He was smirking again.

"Thinking what I'm thinking?" the older teen said with an amused glint in his eyes.

Malik, too, grinned with understanding. "Yep."

"To me that looked like they're going to a club", Bakura mused aloud.

"Agreed. Maybe it's that one everyone in school wants to go to."

"You mean 'Checkmate'?"

Malik nodded. "Yes, that one. I heard some of my classmates talk about it. Everyone goes there because they're not as strict about age as they are in other clubs."

"I know. Mariku and I went there a few times." The older teen stood up and stretched once more. "I suggest we put some appropriate clothes on."

The Egyptianed grimaced at that. "I didn't bring any clothes with me. It's not like I planned this, you know."

Bakura turned to grin at him confidently. "Like we don't have any clothes in this house."

* * *

><p>Two car doors opened, two figures got out and the two doors closed again. Lavender orbs gazed up at the flashing sign that read 'Checkmate'. It was dark already and therefore all the lights in the street were on, every and each one in a different color, making the colorless night bright like a colorful day. People were streaming in and out of clubs with their friends, lovers and one-night-stands. Music was coming from every corner and no one could tell where which song was coming from without entering. The club which they were facing was the typical teenage party location, a place without rules where no one cared where you came from if you could dance and knew how to properly make out. A bronze nose wrinkled in disgust at the thought.<p>

"Are you sure they are going to let us in?" the Egyptian teen asked over his shoulder.

Bakura approached from behind, clad in a pair of black jeans and a midnight blue satin shirt of which the upper part was unbuttoned to reveal perfect pale skin. Malik had told him to button up his shirt - telling himself that it was only distracting because he felt perfectionistic about clothes - but Bakura had simply refused. "They have to", he replied coolly and went up to the entrance without hesitating.

Malik on the other hand was rather reluctant about it now that he had seen this place close up. He looked around and noticed that people were staring strangely at him. 'On second thought...' He quickly caught up with his friend, seeking the presence of someone familiar. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, he felt lost in such an environment. Bakura was the one who knew this place, this situation and he knew what he had to do, so Malik decided it was best to simply follow his lead.

Bakura knew exactly that Malik was feeling uncomfortable and his ego fed on that. To worsen the boy's predicament, he strode past the long queue of people and directly went to stand in front of the doorman. He grinned up at the tall, muscular man who looked down at him indifferently. Malik stood near his friend but used him as a wall between him and the doorman. For a moment he was afraid that they would not be let in but his worry was short-lived when the doorman's face lit up with a smile.

"Yo, Bakura! Long time no see. How's it going?" the man said cheerfully.

"Hey, Teku", Bakura greeted back. "I'm here with a buddy of mine." Malik immediately shrunk further into the background behind the albino but the other guy, Teku, had already noticed him.

His eyes widened for a moment but went back to normal and then he laughed. "For a moment I thought it was Mariku! But that's impossible coz he's already inside."

'Jackpot', Bakura thought victoriously. 'He's here.'

"And he's with your brother. I first thought it was you. By the way, who is your friend? Care to introduce us?"

At that Bakura turned a bit so he could look at the teen hiding behind him, put a hand on his lower back and pushed him into the light. "This is Malik. Mariku's little brother. Malik, this is Teku. There, satisfied?"

The young Egyptian shifted uneasily under the older one's eyes roaming over his body from head to toe. He was reminded of the outfit Bakura had made him wear. The tight, blue jeans, adorned with two silver chains, and the equally tight black top. He chose a blue-ish violet, sleeveless hoody that would reveal a good amount of his waist if not for the black top. He had to take his gold jewellery off but only obeyed because Bakura gave him something different. Bakura had snuck into his father's bedroom and taken a piece out of his collection. It was a silver necklace with an ankh with outstretched wings as the pendant. Malik almost wanted to keep it but knew that after this evening he would have to return it. As for the outfit his friend had picked, it was not only cold so long as they were out but it almost made him feel self-counscious. If Bakura had not granted him to wear something beneath the revealing hoodie he would not have left the house.

"No wonder I thought you were Mariku. You look so much like him", Teku said cheerily. "Only that you look too adorable to be him." Malik was taken off-guard by the unexpected compliment and blinked dumbfoundedly. It also distracted him too much to notice the warning glare Bakura sent the doorman after his comment.

"Whatever", he snorted. "Care to let us in?" The man then moved aside for both of them to enter and so they did. When they were inside and Malik was able to properly check his surroundings, he had to admit, he was positively impressed. The club was not as shabby as he had expected it to be. Everything still looked new although the club had opened a few months ago. It had two floors but the bar was on the first one. There was a large dancefloor which was almost completely crowded by dancing people. There even were cages which were currently occupied by young women or maybe mature girls in outfits that were a lot more revealing than his own, to say the least. Flashing lights in different colors and with different patterns came flooding the otherwise dark club from above. People were everywhere, laughing, drinking, making out. They were so many. Finding Mariku and Ryou in such a crowd might prove to be a difficult task.

Bakura suddenly turned around to face his blond friend. "How about we get something to drink first?"

Malik frowned at him in response. "We're not here to party. We have to find the lovebirds."

"Come on", the albino groaned. "Not like they're gonna run off or something. We might as well enjoy ourselves before we get to work."

But Malik shook his head. "_They _might be enjoying themselves too much already and it _is _our job to prevent that from happening."

"...Fine", Bakura agreed reluctantly. "But after that we won't leave right away. So, let's find those faggots and get it over with so we can have some fun."

"But where do we start looking?" the Egyptian asked as he looked around in search for the two boys. "This place is so crowded. At this rate, we're never going to find them."

The thief smirked at him darkly. "You underestimate me once more, kiddo."

'Oh, back to _pet names_, aren't we?'

"I told you, Mariku and I have come here before."

"So? What's your point?" The younger teen crossed his arms over his chest defiantly and pretended to be uninterested.

Bakura gestured up to the second floor with a nod and Malik followed with his eyes. "Up there's our favorite spot when we want privacy."

"When you want privacy?" Malik repeated in an intentionally disgusted tone which Bakura caught.

He rolled his eyes at the Egyptian's implication. "Not with each other. With girls."

A blond eyebrow raised in question. "With girls?"

"Yes, with girls. At least that used to be the case until your brother decided he was gay and went for Ryou."

"Thanks for reminding me", the blond replied sarcastically and Bakura rolled his eyes once more.

"Not my fault. Guess it runs in your family." He grinned smugly and went to the stairs that led up to the second floor.

"Wait, what did you just say?" Malik pushed himself through the sweaty crowd to catch up with his partner who was still smirking widely.

"Oh, nothing..."

They ascended the stairs where both came to a halt. They spotted the couple they had been looking for seated in a booth in the far away corner. And they were anything but idle. The older Egyptian had his lover pressed to the backrest of their couch, one hand supporting his weight and the other one around the smaller boy's neck. Ryou had both hands gripping Mariku's black shirt to keep him close. Both had their eyes closed as they kissed passionately, obviously oblivious to their surroundings. But the two teens watching were not. Especially not Bakura whose fingers twitched, ready to beat the living daylights out of the older Egyptian. Malik noticed this and although he did not like the display either, he still did not want his brother beaten up. Besides, Bakura would unnecessarily reveal that they had been following the couple around.

Malik's eyes scanned the rest of the place. They settled on a booth where a group of girls was sitting. Not any girls, though. He recognized them as his classmates. To his horror he realized that one of them was Miho who, admittedly, looked anything but like the little girl she usually pretended to be. She wore her hair down which seemed to be a bit curly by nature but suited her well. She had also put some make-up on to go along with her outfit. She wore a short turquois dress and a fitting choker with a satin ribbon. The girl beside her was Anzu who was dressed in a short, white skirt, decorated with three small chains, and a sleeveless pink shirt with the word 'Friends' printed in black on it. She looked very much bored out of her mind as she kept nibbling on her straw more than actually drinking.

An idea struck him.

He turned to Bakura who looked even angrier than a few seconds prior. "I have an idea." At that the albino shifted his hateful gaze from the couple to the blond beside him.

"Now that's new."

"Shut up and do as I say", Malik commanded to which Bakura frowned. He detested being ordered around but if Malik had a good idea then maybe he could listen just this once. If the idea was nonsense he would handle things by himself. After all, that was the easiest way to get something done. "Distract Mariku and get him to leave Ryou for a few minutes."

Bakura raised an eyebrow questioningly. "What are you planning?"

Malik's lips curved up into an evil grin, something that Bakura had never seen before. The sinister glint in his eyes resembled his own so much. 'Maybe I'm rubbing off on him', he concluded with satisfaction. "You'll see."

"I hate it when people say that. But fine, let's see whether it works. If it doesn't and they find out about everything, I'll blame it on you."

"Believe me, that won't happen. Now get to work. The sooner we're finished here, the sooner you can go and do as you please", the Egyptian said dismissively.

"Sounds good to me", Bakura said with a smug grin and Malik could not help but return the gesture.

* * *

><p>"Mariku...", Ryou began breathlessly as he pulled away from his lover. "We really shouldn't... this is a public place and you promised me-" He was cut off as the other leaned in to reconnect their lips once more.<p>

He pulled away after a moment. "I know, I know", he said and before Ryou could say anything he had put his finger to his now pink lips to silence him. "But in this place no one cares about who's doing what and where or with who."

"But..."

"No buts, Ryou", the older teen insisted and nipped the other's earlobe with his teeth slightly, knowing exactly that it was just another way he had discovered to silence the boy. Ryou almost immediately gave in to the temptingly beautiful sensation and turned his head a little for the other to do as he pleased. "It's been so long", Mariku whispered sensually as he kissed down his lover's neck. Ryou sighed dreamily as the other proceeded to place kisses on his collar bone. "And I missed you so much."

"I...", the white haired teen started but had to stop when gasped as he felt hands run up under his shirt. "I missed you, too."

Suddenly their rare, sinfully wonderful moment was stopped when a sound tore through the air. Someone had cleared their throat and it sounded as if they were standing right in front of them. Both heads shot up to look at the intruder.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something", came the mocking comment from none other than...

"Bakura?" Ryou said incredulously and quickly scooted further away from his boyfriend.

"The one and only."

"What are _you_ doing here?" Mariku asked, less politely than his lover. Of course, he was angry. That idiot he called his friend had just interrupted one of their precious moments together.

"Funny that you ask. I wanted to talk to you actually", Bakura stated calmly. His friend gave him a suspicious look in return and Bakura decided to add "...alone", to his statement.

Mariku was anything but willing to talk to his friend at first. But he came to the conclusion that the sooner he would talk to Bakura the sooner he could go back to Ryou. He still did not have a good feeling about this. Not only that Bakura had never wanted to 'talk' to him for nothing. But also because he could put two and two together which told him that he probably wanted to warn him to keep his hands off of Ryou. That was most likely it although he did not understand why he wanted to threaten him now. He had let him be for weeks. Why now and here of all places and times?

He looked back to Ryou's confused eyes and then stood up. "Fine, but make it quick." Bakura nodded and lost no time in leading the older teen downstairs to the bar. They sat down and Bakura ordered himself a drink. He turned back to Mariku and casually asked "And what will it be for you?"

"Stop fucking with me and say whatever you wanna say."

At that Bakura raised his hands defensively. "Hey, I didn't come to fight, 'kay? And I meant that question."

Mariku snorted angrily but ordered himself a glass of gin regardless. They were silent until both had received their drinks. "So? What do you wanna talk about?" the Egyptian asked suspiciously.

Bakura took a sip from his drink to buy himself some time. "Well... take a guess", he challenged.

"Bakura", Mariku hissed dangerously, "I'm not in the mood for your stupid games. Just spit it out already!"

"My my..." Another sip. "And to think that there was actually a time when you called me so we could beat up some random guy. You've changed."

"Look who's talking. At that time you weren't as fucking annoying as you are being right now, so quit your ranting and tell me what you wanted to talk about. And if this is what you dragged me down for then I'll just leave you to rot here." With that the furious Egyptian stood up from his seat, ready to make his threat true. And in that very moment he took notice of something in the corner of his eye. It was Ryou. But he was not alone like he should.

* * *

><p>"Good evening, ladies", a honey-sweet voice greeted. At that the bunch of girls sitting in their booth all turned their heads to the voice that had joined them. A pair of violet eyes blinked in surprise and in the next moment the girl smiled.<p>

"Malik-san!", Miho exclaimed as cheerfully as ever, "What are you doing here?" Whispers were exchanged among the other girls after recognizing the male.

Malik invited himself to sit down beside Anzu who seperated him from Miho. "I'm here with a friend."

"Oh. Who?" the lavender haired girl asked, feigning curiosity as she could guess it could only be Bakura Touzoku who was with him.

"You see, I came here with Ryou", he explained and pointed over his shoulder where a white haired boy sat lonely in his seat, looking uncomfortable. The girls' heads turned to where he was pointing. Miho's eyes narrowed in disbelief. 'Ryou-kun?' But why him and not his twin brother? Malik caught her expression and had to fight the urge to grin. "However", he continued and put on a saddened mask to go along with his act, "he is very shy and I just can't get him to leave his seat and enjoy himself." He then turned to face Anzu who, he was sure, would be glad to help. "I thought that maybe you could convince him?"

The brunette started to beam at that and nodded vigorously. "Sure! Just leave it to me!"

Malik smiled at her gratefully. "Thank you, Anzu-san."

"Just call me Anzu", she asked and the boy nodded. Within seconds they were both on their feet and on their way to the lonely whitette. Miho and the other girls did not follow them but watched them intently as they strode over to the corner where Ryou was sitting. Ryou, who had previously been preoccupied with his own thoughts, finally realized someone approaching and looked up. However, he had not expected to see anyone else than Mariku and maybe Bakura. Who he saw where his lover's little brother and a brown haired girl whose name he did not remember. So he addressed the only one he recognized.

"Malik?" he said as if not sure whether it was really him. Before the younger teen could answer, the brunette had already bent down to be on eye level with him and smiled at him.

"So you're Ryou? My name is Anzu! Would you like to dance with me?"

Ryou, overwhelmed by the unfamiliar situation, could not say anything except for incoherent words. Anzu, on the other side, did not seem to be bothered by that at all and continued.

"Dancing is so much fun, you really should try it out, too!"

"I... I really don't want to dance right now, thank you", Ryou said politely but the girl's spirit was just invincible.

"You don't have to be ashamed or anything."

"N-no, really, I'm fine just sitting here", the white haired boy rejected once more. He had expected her to grow frustrated but she still tried and even offered to teach him how to dance if that was the reason why he was being so shy about it. Ryou assured her that he knew how to dance and hoped that she would give up soon. "I appreciate your concern, but I _really_ don't want to dance." He was starting to wonder what Malik had to do with it all and why he was just standing there watching instead of taking his side. Until he felt a tug on his wrist.

"Aw, come on!" Anzu was actually trying to pull him off the couch now. Ryou did not resist and let himself be dragged, afraid he might hurt the strange girl.

"Please, I really don't want to", he begged again but Anzu would not listen, convinced that he was just being shy. But suddenly something was blocking her way - or rather someone. She gazed up to find the person's face and was now looking straight into a pair of enraged violet eyes. She could not help but gulp thickly as that icy glare was sent straight towards her. Unconsciously, she took a step backwards.

"Let go of him, bitch", he demanded and grabbed Ryou's captured wrist to free it from Anzu's grip. The girl flinched and took another step backwards.

"But I just wanted to-"

"I don't give a shit about what you want. Leave Ryou alone or else you'll dearly regret the day you were born", Mariku threatened in a voice that dripped venom as toxic as that of a king cobra. Anzu looked hurt. She had meant to help and this is what she got?

Ryou yanked his wrist free from his boyfriend and turned to give him an equally hurt look. "Mariku, how can you say something like that? She just wanted to dance with me", he defended.

The reaction he had hoped for never came. If anything, it only served to make the Egyptian even more furious. "And you would have let her if I hadn't come", he stated in an accusing tone.

"I didn't want to but-"

"You would have let her."

"Maybe, but-"

"No buts, Ryou!" Mariku interrupted yet again, voice risen anger. "Do you even realize what you're saying?"

Ryou sighed exasperated. He did not want to fight, especially not now and here but Mariku was being so unreasonable and he had also insulted an innocent girl. "Do you?" he countered and his boyfriend was effectively silenced for a moment. Anzu took that chance to back off until she was beside Malik who she sent a questioning look but the Egyptian pretended he had not noticed.

"Why are you so mad? She was just trying to help."

Mariku grabbed his lover's abused wrist once more and pulled Ryou in so no one could hear them. "Ryou", he began in a low, warning tone, "you are mine. And that bitch is not stealing you away from me."

"I can't believe you! You're just overreacting." With that Ryou freed his wrist once more and stepped away from the other male. There was so much he wanted to say right now but he was wise enough to end it right then and there. "I think I should go now." Without another word, he passed the other by. Mariku did not stop him, did not even look at him after that. After a few minutes he went back downstairs to get himself another drink. However, he did not fail to notice his brother standing with the girl who had tried to snatch his lover away from him. He would have to have a word with him, too.

The sound of clapping hands reached Malik's ears. "Not bad, I gotta admit." He turned to the origin of the voice with a victorious grin.

"That's about the nicest thing I've ever heard from you, Bakura."

* * *

><p>AN: Not true, he called you his friend, Malik~

Ah, anyway, enjoyed the tiny bit of Deathshipping-ness? I did! What a shame Bakura and Malik have to destroy everything. And yes, I had to make this two parts because the chapter was already too long. Next chapter will continue with the disco because Bakura wanted to 'have some fun', remember?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And hopefully I'll see you in chapter 6, I promise it'll be worth it! Thanks for reading!


	6. Let Go And Dance part 2

A/N: Oh my God, guys! I thought you might like chapter 5, but I didn't expect you to like it _that_ much! Thank you so much, everyone! It means so incredibly much to me.

Thank you, **Anon **(I'm glad you don't think it's just dragging because that was one of my greatest fears as much as rushing the story. And yes, noses are super sensitive!), **ToriPANDAKun **(thank you, too! Your friend told me you recommended my story, that means so much to me!), **Saminagg **(Just like I'm eagerly waiting to finally write it :D), **Elle-L **(That _was_ helpful, so thank you! I'll pay more attention to it. And I'm uber happy that you're enjoying the story so much!), **Pockyfeind**, **J. L. Lunar **(They sure are hypocrites but I love them anyway~ And yes, moar Thiefshipping! ...OMG, I just imagined that! XD), **Kuracakes **(wie gesagt, danke dass du mich nicht umbringst :D), **ryoubakura98 **(I couldn't imagine them as a couple either a few months ago xD The idea is nice! It's just that Ryou and Mariku would most likely recognize them despite their disguise. But you _did _just give me a good idea. I will credit you!), **immaperson** (no need to apologize. I'm very happy that you do review and I'm glad I could help even if not intentionally :)), **ShesDreamingAwake **(thanks for the compliment, I must be doing a fine job then~) and **KittyScarlet **(I'm glad I could make you laugh~ And I'm not an Anzu fan either but she was the perfect uhm... 'victim' in this case)!

I didn't think this chapter would be so long and oh look! This is my first story that reaches 50,000 words! *clap clap* There's no date in this chapter and there won't be another one until chapter 8 but all Thiefshipping fans will probably like this chapter regardless (or at least I hope so).

Credits for songs go to V-Factory (song 'Love Struck') and Vivian Bishara (song 'Irgaa Tani'). On a side note: 'Habebe/Habibi' means something like 'darling'. No guarantee that everything's correct! Right me if I'm wrong~

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

Let Go And Dance - part 2

The door slammed shut. Mariku was pissed and that was not the first time. In the past few weeks everything had been going wrong. At first he thought he was just being paranoid, that bad things did not only happen whenever he was with Ryou but that was exactly the case. Everything was fine until he was with him. It was as if fate was trying to separate them. But of course, that thought had left his mind as quickly as it had come. He did not believe in shit like that. But whatever it was, it was driving him crazy. It was getting harder for him to treat the people in his environment well. Every time his time with Ryou was interrupted, ruined, destroyed or disturbed in _any _way he would feel this urge to break something, maybe even someone. He day-dreamed about stabbing the person who had interrupted them, imagining their blood run along the blade of a sharp knife until it reached the tips of his fingers. That would give him satisfaction. He could also imagine himself strangling them, choking them to death. He wanted to hurt people so badly when he was as pissed as he was now.

And that was the moment he remembered who was one of the people he could have hurt tonight. The memory was slightly blurry now that he had drunk three or four - or even more, he had stopped counting - glasses of jin, but he still remembered it quite clearly. The image would never leave his mind. The image of the person beside the girl who was responsible for his fury. His little brother, Malik. What had he been doing there, Mariku wondered. He knew his brother as well as he knew himself. He knew that Malik, the little whelp, would never voluntarily step into a club, much less all by himself. He had meant to ask his brother after drinking because he felt that asking him right away would have led to nothing good. He had decided to ask him after he had calmed down, at least a bit. However, when he felt he was calm enough to talk to him, the boy was gone. Maybe he had not even left the club, he was not sure. It was so hard to tell when the whole building was full of people and lit by flashing, colorful lights only. And being primed did not make it any easier either. The result was that Mariku left and was even angrier than before now.

The drunk teen gazed up the stairs where he could see the door to his little brother's room. He did not think about his actions a lot in his state. He simply walked up the stairs and entered his brother's room. He mentally thanked his family for trusting one another so much because otherwise the door would have been locked. He stepped into the dark room and checked the bed. It was empty like he had thought it would be. He frowned at his discovery regardless and turned to leave again. About to exit the room, he caught sight of something shining in the corner of his eye. Thanks to the light the moon emitted he could make out what it was - a book. Struck by curiosity, he switched on the lamp on the the desk. With the help of the additional light he was able to recognize the object. It was the small, black journal Malik had gotten when they had just moved to Japan. Without feeling any shame he opened it. The first entries were written in Arabic. That had been when Malik still did not speak Japanese. Pages after pages, he had written down only painful thoughts and memories. He occasionally described some every-day-situations, probably to distract himself. Mariku remembered those days very well. He had never seen his brother so unhappy, not even when their father had still been alive. Nothing could make him smile or at least cheer up. He hardly spoke to anyone and kept himself locked in his room most of the time. It was like he was not alive but not entirely dead either, like a body without its soul. Fortunately that changed as the years went by and the child grew into a teen with a healthy amount of self-esteem and almost perfect Japanese. And this is how the entries continued. They became less depressing as if he was fighting against his past. It was mentioned now and then until Mariku did not read about it anymore. He thought that he would be at the end soon, seeing as the entries became less frequent according to the date. What he thought to be the last page told the story of how Malik enrolled middle school. He wanted to close the book then but something made him turn the page. And then he stumbled across the latest entry. He squinted his eyes. Reading was rather difficult with all the alcohol but he was able to read it regardless.

The most current entry was written in Japanese just like all the other ones in the second half of the journal. Mariku checked the date and when he did he turned to look at the calendar in the next moment. The entry had been made the day before - since it was already early in the morning by now. He turned back to the journal. His curiosity could level with his anger now. What could have happened that Malik decided to write an entry after such a long time? This was his chance to find it out, so he began to read.

It was about him and Ryou and how 'weird' it was for him to have a boyfriend. Mariku snorted at that but kept reading. In the next sentence Malik admitted how Ryou was a nice person. The subject ended with this and Mariku was surprised. No 'I can't believe that he would dishonor our family, our culture and tradition like this!' and no 'He's dating a guy. How disgusting!'? Malik did not write anything like this and seeing how this was his journal, his own personal thoughts, this had to be true. He accepted the fact that he was together with another male. The only fact he deemed 'weird' was that he was together with someone. It could have been anybody and it would have been weird in his eyes. Did that mean that his brother did not mind?

For a moment his fury had subsided. That is, until he continued to read. The next topic was the friend he had made. Mariku reread the sentence over and over and _over_ again. Had he drunk too much after all, because the person he had befriended was...

'You. Gotta be. **Fucking**. Kidding me.'

Bakura.

* * *

><p>The music's volume was on maximum and every beat could be felt vibrating through the floor and the humid air. Over the blaring music a deep voice could be heard, chuckling.<p>

"You're quite welcome", Bakura said to his Egyptian partner. "Remember our deal?"

Malik waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, we're staying a bit longer, alright."

"Not so eager. What's wrong? Not used to nightlife?" the albino mocked.

Malik huffed in annoyance, muttering a quick 'Shut up'. A female voice interfered with the conversation then.

"Okay, what's going on here?" Anzu asked, genuinely confused. "First you tell me your friend is too shy to dance", she said, pointing at Malik, "and then your brother suddenly shows up and they fight and now you", pointing at Bakura, "show up, too, and you're both not bothered at all that those two left. Am I missing something out?"

The partners shared looks and Bakura decided to answer before Malik could even think of anything to say. "Well, no, everything was correct. But why bother? It's not _our_ fault that they left, right?", at the last part the albino glanced over to his friend who tried hard not to smirk in return. "But it _is_ a bit boring without them. So how about it? Won't you and the rest join us?"

Malik was relieved, thinking the more people around him he knew the better. Then again, all of these girls knew the rumors - who did not? - meaning that he would have to watch his actions. One wrong move or word and more rumors would spread. But maybe it was too late already. The whole school had heard about all kinds of twisted stories already. Besides, the girls had seen him with Bakura now and they would surely have a lot of gossip material just because they have been seen together again. So did it really matter what he did now? He could make out with Bakura and nobody would know whether the rumors were true or not. 'I... did not just picture myself making out with Bakura... nope, I didn't.'

Anzu hesitated for a moment and Bakura believed he had not been convincing enough. Just when he was about to say something, the girl let out a happy squeal. "Sure! I'll get the others!" she exclaimed eagerly and went to the booth the girls were occupying.

"Good. We'll be downstairs", Bakura said and, as mentioned, went to the stairs. Malik quickly followed him without any questions. After a second he mentally slapped himself for walking after Bakura like a dog did with its owner. It was wrong but he decided to shut up and follow him for now. These clubs were not his natural territory.

They came to a halt in front of the bar where the older teen sat down and turned to the younger with a confident grin on his lips. "So, Malik. Seeing how wimpy you are I'd say you've never drunk alcohol before."

Malik narrowed his eyes furiously at the insult. "Of course I have", he spat venomously.

Bakura raised one white eyebrow at him, his smug grin still present. "Have you now? What was it? Half a glass of champagne at New Year's Eve?"

"No!" the blond protested. 'It was less than half a glass', he thought with a great amount of embarrassment but did not intend to say his thoughts aloud. He composed himself and crossed his arms. "I've drunk plenty already. I can't remember how many times it was or what it was", he lied fluently.

"Oho...", Bakura responded with fake impression. He could read Malik like an open book. The boy thought he emitted confidence when in truth his nervousness made him show his insecurity. Crossing his arms was only one of his mistakes. But Bakura knew how to play to get the biggest benefit out of this. It would be embarrassing to reveal the boy's little secret but it would be so much more fun if he made him reveal it himself, by getting him drunk. "Well, if you're such a pro then I think I can recommend you some good drink." He then turned to the bartender and ordered the same for both of them. Malik could not make out what it was because of the strange name but thinking about what Bakura had just said, he figured it would be something high-proof. Before long the bartender, who did not give a damn about them being underage, placed two glasses with a reddish brown liquid in front of them.

Bakura picked up his glass and tipped it towards Malik with this knowing look. The Egyptian did not let this affect him and took one big gulp from his drink. He regretted it because the drink was as expected very strong and he had to cough after it had burned his throat. He tried to surpress his coughing but that only made it worse. Bakura did not laugh, he only smirked and took a drink himself. He did not show any signs of discomfort, did not grimace at the strong taste or cough like Malik did. Another victory for the albino. The tanned teen glared at him from the side. Drinking was not his strength, but there had to be another area in which he could beat his overly confident partner. As he tried to find something he could win at, the girls came to join them at the bar.

One of the girls literally dashed towards the two boys. All Malik could see was a flash of bluish purple and turquois and in the next moment a 'disturbing' scene unfolded itself in front of him. Bent over a sitting Bakura stood Miho, practically in his lap already, giving him the most flirtatous look Malik had ever seen. "Bakura-kun", she said, her hand resting on the teen's thigh, "will you dance with me? Please?"

Bakura pondered on that for a brief moment, watching the girl bat her eye lashes at him. He could feel Malik's eyes on him, could feel them bore into him, waiting impatiently for him to answer. Bakura smirked. "Sure", he answered and took another sip from his drink before getting up. He cast a glance towards Malik while walking to the dancefloor with Miho. The boy looked positively stabbed in the back with 'betrayal' written all over his beautiful features. Exactly what the older teen had intended. The girl did not matter to him, much like all the other girls before her. What really mattered was something else entirely.

The couple mingled with the dancing crowd and began to move their bodies to the beat as well. They were dancing close to each other, there was hardly any space but neither complained. Their bodies slammed against each other occasionally and their hands began to wander up and down the new-found territory. Soon other young girls had caught sight of the handsome albino and went up to dance near him as well, their hands all over him as if he were a star.

Malik's grip on his glass tightened unconsciously until his knuckles turned white. Anzu sat down in the stool beside him and looked from the dancing couple - plus additional girls - to the Egyptian. She looked back and forth between them until her eyes settled on the younger boy again. She cleared her throat awkwardly and it was enough for Malik to snap back to reality. He blinked a few times before turning away completely to carefully take a sip from his drink. He realized that it actually was very tasty if he did not rush. He put the glass back down onto the table and stared at it. He did not understand why but he wanted to keep himself from looking at Bakura _groping _his classmate and those other willing girls. He did not like Miho in that way so it was not because of her. And he was sure that he was not envious that Bakura had all those ladies over him either. So he decided it had to be because he had been left alone with all the other girls now while his partner was enjoying himself. 'Loosen up', Malik told himself, glaring harder at the liquid in his glass. 'What he can do, you can do as well.' With his mind set, he picked up the glass once more and chugged down the rest of it. He grimaced at the strong taste and the wave of nausea he felt for a moment but pulled himself together and ordered the same drink again.

"Uhm... Malik, maybe you should take it easy", Anzu suggested. But Malik was not at all listening to her. He had to prove something, not only to himself but also to Bakura. He glanced over his shoulder, as unobvious as possible, to check on said male. His eyes found the dancing group once more and they narrowed considerably. Miho was running her hands over the fabric of his shirt and his hands were not idle either, currently occupying themselves with the girl's hips. Miho must have felt the Egyptian's eyes on them, for she looked back into his direction. When she saw the look in Malik's eyes, she could not help but smile in sweet victory. Her arms snuck around the albino's neck, as if to signale 'mine'.

The next glass came just in time when Malik turned away again and chugged it down much like he had done with the other one, without having to cough this time around. He ordered one more before Anzu told him to slow down once again. "Why don't we dance instead?" she offered and Malik grinned darkly at her.

"Yes, let's dance", the tanned teen replied with a slight slur and lost no time in standing up and walking towards the dancefloor.

"Wait!", Anzu called after him but she lost him in the crowd when she tried to catch up with him.

The song ended and a new one was played. It started off quietly and slowly until it turned into the perfect dancing beat. People began to cheer upon recognizing the song or simply because they were fond of it. Everyone moved their bodies eagerly to the new music and it was hard for Anzu to tell where her Egyptian classmate had run off to. Her question was answered as soon as the dancing crowd slowed down again. Some people completely stopped what they were doing to turn into a certain direction where all eyes seemed to have shifted to. Anzu followed their gazes curiously.

In the center of a light flooded platform stood a figure, back facing the rest of the crowd. His feet did not leave their spot on the floor, yet his whole body was moving to the rhythm, hips graciously stressing every move he made. With the first tone of the singer's voice his body whirled around entirely in one swift motion. Anzu's jaw dropped as strands of golden hair whipped around with the turn of the boy's head. She did not hear the lyrics of the song anymore, she could only stare speechlessly as the teen on the stage danced to the music. She could not believe her eyes. It was Malik, and he was dancing as if he had never done anything else in his entire life. Every move, every turn seemed to melt together with the music in perfect harmony. Anzu had to wonder where he had learned that. She had practiced dancing since her childhood. Her eyes followed the chains on his hips floating in the air. And she was sure, his dancing could not be unpracticed either. She watched in awe as his arms stretched out, knees buckled, head turned. He was just way too good, it was admirable. And she was not the only one who thought so. People watching him began to clap and cheer excitedly but he kept dancing nevertheless.

_"I'm cravin' for you, and just like a fool._

_There's no way I can stop, stop, stop my desire."_

Among the cheering people stood a white haired male who had also stopped dancing to watch interestedly as the young Egyptian presented his dancing skills. He observed, grinning to himself. Not caring about the silent protests of the girls clinging to him, he drew closer to the stage. Miho followed him, never leaving his side but the albino boy did not even look at her. His eyes were transfixed on the show before him.

_"I'm cravin' for you, and you know, too._

_There's no one that can top, top, top your smile."_

A memory, the image of a happily smiling Malik came to Bakura's mind. He was suddenly all too aware of what the singer was saying. For just a second he averted his eyes and when he looked back up he met a pair of lavender eyes that were shining in the momentarily blue light. There was only one word that he could think of as those violet eyes looked at him through half closed lids.

_"You got me_

_love struck."_

'Beautiful.'

The moment the first chorus ended Malik stretched out one hand directly into the albino's direction. Bakura did not need a written invitation. Two steps and he was released from Miho's vice-like grip on him. Another three steps and he was in reach to take the offered hand into his own. A tug on his hand and he followed the boy's lead onto the stage, curious eyes watching them.

For the umpteenth time that evening, Anzu could only stare with wide eyes. After seeing her classmate dance, her original plan had been to dance with him since he was so good at it. But the scene had become something she had not expected. And that was her classmate dancing with his supposedly 'lover'. Her look shifted to her side where she found a shocked mess that was her friend, Miho. Her thoughts went back to the rumors this very girl had spread, and with them her eyes found back to the couple on the stage. Could there any truth in it after all?

Bakura's hand left Malik's with the words "Challenge accepted". His partner gave him an amused grin in return.

_"I love it when you gimme that smile."_

With that the older teen took a step away from the blond. It was his turn to show everyone what he was made of. In every other situation he would have cared about what the others thought about him. But this time it was solely about impressing the boy in front of him.

When Bakura began to dance there were many pairs of eyes on him, most watching in awe. Yet there were two blue eyes that were glaring at the whole scene. Miho enjoyed the sight of the older Touzoku twin putting all of his heart into dancing on a stage with colorful lights. What was bothering her was the fact that it was not her gaining all his attention. Malik was the one he was dancing for, obviously. The way Bakura looked at him occasionally, took steps closer to him or gestured towards him at certain times. All of that filled her with an emotion she had never felt so strongly ever before. And to her own horror she was beginning to wish that Malik had stayed in Egypt.

The crowd cheered once more and finally stopped staring to go and join in. People pushed themselves between Miho and the couple but she did not try to get close to Bakura anymore. Defeated, she turned away from them, squeazing her way out away from the dancefloor. She did not want to stay in this place any longer. Not when her crush was dancing with someone else. She could hear the distant calls of Anzu to wait for her but she did not care. All she could care about was getting back home.

With every turn the lights seemed to get more and more blurry to Malik's eyes. He was feeling light-headed and it became more intense as the people around him came closer with every step. But that did not stop him from dancing. He was in such a good mood. He could not explain why but he was feeling way too good to stop.

He bumped into someone else, someone taller than him. Dazed, he glanced up at the figure, supporting himself with his hands on the person's chest. "Easy, kiddo", a familiar voice chuckled. On recognizing the other male, Malik pushed himself away from Bakura.

"Shut up, 'Kura", the tanned boy slurred. Unfortunately, he lost his balance and fell backwards. A hand on his lower back caught him before he hit the person behind him. He looked up and his eyes locked with Bakura's, who was a bit too close for comfort in that very moment. The albino pulled both of them back up again but let his hand rest where it was. Their eyes were still locked in a silent battle and the older teen grinned yet again.

Malik then broke their eye contact when he did something not even he had expected. His hands went back to the other's chest, roaming over ever inch. He approached him and let his forehead rest on the other's shoulder for a moment. His eyes caught sight of Bakura's neck which suddenly looked too alluring to resist. Malik leaned forward until his lips were touching the skin. He could feel Bakura tense, his pulse he could feel on his lips now. His hands began to idly massage the fabric of his shirt and he closed his eyes. In a strange way, it was relaxing.

Bakura was frozen, standing on the stage between many dancing people. He could feel Malik's breath tickle his neck, his soft lips on his skin, and the hand he still had on the boy's back was starting to become damp with sweat. Not knowing what else to do, he raised his free hand and let it rest on the boy's shoulder. Malik seemed to be getting bored and tried something new. Bakura's eyes widened as the boy's wet tongue came into contact with his heated skin. Malik licked over the wildly pulsating artery on his neck and then licked his own lips, accidentally touching the other's neck again.

To his surprise Malik heard his partner let out a shuddering breath. Eager to get more reactions he repeated the action, lingering longer on the pale skin. He smirked briefly when the older male tilted his neck for better access. He did not hesitate and took advantage of that to taste more, his hands rubbing sensually over his chest. The hand on his back pushed him closer while the other one entangled itself in his hair. Malik admittedly enjoyed this position, especially because the pushing signaled him that someone actually wanted him close. Therefore he did not mind when the hand went lower. It stopped on his thigh and pulled his leg up. Malik played along, tangling his leg around the oher's hips.

_"You got me_

_love struck, ooh oh ooh oh."_

Bakura could have stayed like this forever, until he felt the urge to do something himself. The hand that had previously been in the blond's hair cupped the boy's cheek and tilted his face upwards only to have them face to face again. Their chests were touching and he could feel the other's equally quickly racing heart beat. Their noses came into contact as he drew closer. Malik dazedly gazed up at him through half-lidded eyes. And that look was what made Bakura snap back to reality.

'He's drunk', he realized. His grip loosened and he took a step backwards. The younger teen blinked at him questioningly. The albino cleared his throat and looked away. "We should go home now. It's pretty late already", he explained quickly.

'He doesn't know what he's doing', he told himself. As much as he had enjoyed it, it was not right, especially not when Malik was too drunk to even think straight. He would have never done that had he been sober, of that Bakura was sure.

"What? We have to go already ?" came Malik's whining voice.

His partner nodded and put a hand on his back to lead him away from the platform but he did not obey. "Why? First you say you wanna have fun and now that I'm having fun you wanna go? You're such a drag, 'Kura!" the drunk teen lamented and pushed himself away from the other. But Bakura was used to such behaviour already. He knew it all too well from Mariku who would never leave a bar or club until it closed. So he knew what to do in these situations - lie.

"Did I say we're going home?" Malik opened his mouth to say 'Yes, you did' but the albino was faster. "I know lots of other places we can go to and have more fun."

"Really?" the blond asked with hope sparkling in his eyes.

"Sure", Bakura assured and put his hand once more on the other's back, pushing him towards the exit. Malik did not protest this time, believing that they were going to another club or so. How naive of him to assume his friend would always say the truth.

Bakura led them to his car and made sure his drunk partner was sitting properly in his seat. He then went to his side, got in and they drove off. While Malik had been excited and full of energy on the dancefloor, now that he was sitting and slowly calming down he felt more tired by the minute. Before long, he had fallen asleep on the passenger seat. They arrived at Bakura's home and said teen was rather surprised that he did not hear any protests and accusations from his friend. When he had parked his car, he looked to his right to see the blond fast asleep. He sighed to himself but could not help the smile that graced his lips.

"Such a troublesome guy", he mumbled as he got out of the car and on the other side to open the door. He scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. There were two options: He could either wake him up and hope that he would cooperate and walk by himself. Or he could simply let him sleep and carry him into the house. The first option certainly looked more attractive, considering the stairs and the generally long walk to his room. It was a lot more convenient. He looked from his house back to the sleeping boy, sunk into the seat, his head leaned against the backrest peacefully. Bakura bit his lower lip and after a long moment he bent down. One hand snuck under his knees and the other one under his back. He lifted the boy up, noting that he was not as heavy as expected, and pushed the car door closed with his foot. He could lock the car later, at the moment he had all hands full with something else. He then proceeded towards the front door. Despite Malik being fairly light, it was still difficult for Bakura to carry him all the way to the door, which he still had to figure out how to open with no free hand. The feeling of Malik instinctively snuggling closer to him, however, made up for all that.

He was standing in front of this – sadly - closed door now. He could not reach for his keys without dropping Malik. And since he did not want to do that after everything he had gone through now, he had only one option left. He rung the door bell with his elbow. At first there was no reaction from inside, so he tried again. From the corner of his eye he could see a light being switched on. It was the window to Ryou's room, he noted with relief. Thankfully it had not been his father he had woken up. The light in the hallway went on as he could tell from the glass in the upper part of the front door. After a moment the door opened to reveal a confused and sleepy-looking Ryou. It took him a few seconds to realize what was going on.

"Brother?" he asked uncertainly. His eyes then fell upon the sleeping boy in his arms.

"Yeah. Could you let me in before I get a cramp?" Ryou was wide awake in a matter of seconds and practically jumped to the side, apologizing. He closed the door after his brother had entered and followed said teen up the stairs. Bakura halted in front of his room and looked to Ryou over his shoulder. "Open the fucking door", he said with a strained voice. His brother jumped once more and obeyed.

Bakura went over to his bed and gently put the sleeping blond onto it. He straightened up with a sigh of relief. His twin came up behind him, clearing his throat before speaking. "Will he be okay?" he questioned, letting his eyes wander over the sleeping form.

Bakura slumped down on his bed beside him. "Yeah, he's just drunk."

Ryou gave him an incredulous look. "Drunk? But he's underage." The only response he got was a mischievous smirk from his look-alike and that told him everything. He decided to drop the topic and move on to something more interesting. "What were you two doing there anyway? I didn't even tell you where I was going."

His brother shrugged his shoulders. "Coincidence. And besides, who says we wanted to go to the same place as you?"

Ryou was silent after that and Bakura took that to be the end of the discussion. His brother looked doubtful however, and this bothered him. Neither Ryou nor Mariku should ever see the partners on their 'missions', it would raise their suspicion. That was the reason why they had never made their presence known but this time had been an exception. Bakura admitted that Malik's plan had worked but it had been very risky, too. Now the couple had seen them. They could still cover it this time but everything might just be revealed if they kept doing such risky manoeuvres. They had to be more careful in the future.

"I'm guessing he's staying overnight. Why did you not bring him to the guest room?" The older twin rolled his eyes. Ryou usually was not so nosy and persistent.

"The guest room is at the end of the hallway. I didn't feel like walking there, 'kay?", he reasoned. "I'll just sleep there instead."

Ryou nodded hesitantly and yawned. "Alright. Well, good night then", he said and left the room.

As soon as the door was closed, mahogany eyes shifted back to the sleeping boy. Malik turned his head away from him but Bakura still caught a glimpse of the boy's troubled expression. His gaze lowered to his rapidly rising and falling chest. He heard the other exhale shakily. Looking once more at his paling face, he thought it might be wise to get the boy a bucket in case he had to throw up. He looked close to doing so, actually. He stood up and went for the door when the other's voice made him stop dead in his tracks.

"Bakura..." His voice sounded scared and desperate. Bakura turned his head to eye the slightly squirming form. "Don't...", he breathed and the albino was now walking back to the bed. "Don't leave me..."

The addressed teen's eyes widened. Malik was not awake, he was talking in his sleep. Bakura wondered what he could be dreaming of that made him beg him to stay.

* * *

><p><em>"Malik... Don't cry...", he told me. But that only made me cry more. I could not possibly stay strong in a situation such as this one. I choked out another sob that should have been words and covered my mouth with one hand, keeping the other one on his.<em>

_I gasped when I heard footsteps approach us from behind. It could only be one person and that was exactly why I was so terrified. I was frozen in fear, I believe I did not even breathe. A lashing sound tore through the air as his whip hit the stone floor._

_"This is exactly what I'm talking about, son", his raspy voice said. I squeazed my eyes shut in despair, hoping that this was just a dream and that I would wake up any second now. But it did not happen, so it had to be real. The tears kept streaming out of my eyes as I let fate take over and the scene unfold itself._

_"This is why I have to punish the both of you. Because you're both at fault." I did not understand what he was talking about but did not have the time nor the nerve to care about it. He was going to put us through hell and that was everything that was going through my head in that very moment. _

_Us._

_Me and him._

_Me and..._

_I cracked my eyes open reluctantly and saw a mess of white hair in front of me, his head hung low, whether out of defeat or exhaustion, I was not sure. But I could not think straight. He was injured and I did not know how severely or whether he would make it. And the sinking feeling in my stomach told me that it was probably too late. That no one could help him anymore._

_...Bakura._

_My hands were shaking violently as I put them on his cheeks to lift his face. I wanted him to look at me. I wanted him to tell me he was going to be alright. I wanted to see the sinister glint in his eyes. But all I saw were dull eyes, so hollow that I thought I was looking at nothing but a dead doll._

_"Bakura...", I called, trying to reach him. His half-lidded eyes fluttered closed and open and they seemed unable to fix on one spot, darting from side to side aimlessly. I despaired more. My hands stroking his blood-stained hair, cupping his cheeks. I brought our foreheads together, panting, close to hyperventilating but still sobbing._

_"Don't leave me...", I begged him. His eyes then found mine and time stood still. For just a moment, one last moment, the fire was back in his eyes and a smirk tugged at the corners of his lips but did not manage to actually come out. And in the next moment, a moment that was like in slow motion, his eyes closed, his body became heavy and he fell limply to the floor. In my shock I did not catch him, instead I stared at the now lifeless body. He did not move. Why did he not move? _

_"Get up...", I whispered the order. Everything seemed to be growing darker somehow. _

_My father laughed maniacally at my misery. Only he could enjoy it when a person was in so much pain. It fueled the fury that had been hiding inside of me all this time. I smashed my clenched fists onto the stone floor. "Get up!" I could feel my blood boil more and more with every second in which I had to hear the disgusting, sadistic laughter of the one I used to call my father._

_"This, my son, is what happens when you dare to dirty our name! And your punishment shan't be gentle either!" he threatened, stretching his whip in his hands._

_And for once, I did not care._

_"Bakura!" I yelled at the motionless body, putting a hand on his back to shake him. "Get up! Bakura!"_

_No response. No reaction. Nothing._

_The cackles my father made filled my ear and I was starting to feel light-headed, no longer knowing what I was doing. But I did not care. Because I did not care about anything anymore except for him. I shook his body harder, screwing my eyes shut as I shouted his name one last time at the top of my lungs._

_"BAKURA!"_

* * *

><p>Lavender eyes flew open and his body shot up into a sitting position. Malik was panting heavily as he stared wide-eyedly straight ahead.<p>

'Just another nightmare...' He calmed down, slowly catching his breath again. Looking around, he realized that he was not where he usually woke up, that this was not his room and not his bed. Waking up in a place you do not know is never a good sign. Fortunately, Malik recognized his surroundings to be Bakura's home.

'Bakura...' His eyes fell upon his lap and the satin sheets covering him. It had been just a nightmare. He briefly wondered why he would even dream about Bakura _and _his father. It did not make sense in any ways. But then again, he told himself, dreams never really made any sense. Especially not one like the dream he had had. He was just glad it had not been real.

Getting out of his thoughts, he noticed unusual sounds. He could hardly hear it and therefore closed his eyes to sharpen his senses. He recognized the sounds to be the tones of a piano, playing a soft melody. Was it music from a CD or played on an actual piano, he wondered. Struck by curiosity, Malik got out of bed and went to the door. He opened it soundlessly and listened again. It seemed to be coming from close by. He stepped out into the hallway and looked left then right. To his right there were more doors and a certain one caught his attention.

In front of a slightly opened door stood a boy with long white hair. For a second he thought it was Bakura but he could tell from the way his hair was neatly combed down and his candid posture that it had to be his twin brother, Ryou. He approached the other boy wordlessly. Noticing the other, Ryou turned around and greeted Malik with a smile.

"Good morning-"

"Shh...", Ryou hushed him with a finger pressed to his own lips. Malik blinked at him, confused, and the albino explained himself by pointing his index finger at the inside of the room before him.

Malik followed the finger and glanced inside. He had expected something weird but what he saw exceeded the word 'weird' by far. Orbs of lavender watched intently as skillful fingers glided over a board of white and black, pressing keys that left the instrument to create a beautiful melody. A pale hand came up to push a strand of white hair out of the pianist's face and went right back to the keys, not missing a note.

The tanned teen turned to the albino beside him and gave him an incredulous look. Ryou just smiled and nodded, answering the silent question. Malik's eyes went back to the older twin who was still deeply concentrated on playing. To Malik's dismay the song ended soon. Bakura stayed silent for a short while and neither Ryou nor Malik dared to break the silence.

The oldest of the three did not turn around, his eyes still fixed on the keys, as he said, "Tell Mariku and you're dead."

And Malik could not help but burst out laughing. Bakura fixed him with a deadly glare that said 'I mean it'. It successfully silenced the Egyptian. "You never told me that you can play the piano", he commented as he approached him.

Bakura shrugged casually. "You never asked."

"How did you learn it?" What Malik did not notice was the way Ryou shifted uneasily to his seemingly innocent question. Bakura was more relaxed about it though.

"Our mom was a professional pianist", he explained. "She taught us the basics back then."

"What you just played sounded like more than just basics to me."

"That's because it was more than just basics", he drifted off, averting his eyes. "It used to be her favorite song. It's one of the only songs I can play."

And as he heard those words spoken with so much hidden agony, it became obvious, even to Malik, that this was actually a touchy subject. He had no intentions of making either of the twins remember painful memories.

"What else can you play? Something I know?"

Bakura grinned lazily. "Well, there's this totally gay song that my dearest brother made me learn." Ryou fixed him with a warning look that clearly told him 'No swearwords'. Bakura rolled his eyes. He had not even said anything really bad. "Does the singer Céline Dion ring a bell?"

Malik put a finger to his chin thoughtfully, and then clicked his fingers as he remembered. "Oh, you mean the one who sang that Titanic song?"

"It's 'My Heart Will Go On' but yes, that's what I mean."

The blond snickered silently. "And you can play that? Show me", he demanded.

Bakura put up his index finger, saying, "Under one condition."

"And that would be?"

A mischievous grin stretched onto the older twin's lips, his voice low and husky. "You sing."

The room fell silent, the only sound filling it being the ticking of the grandfather clock in the other corner. Ryou observed the two of them silently. His brother was smirking like he usually did but his eyes were serious, set on Malik expectantly. Said Egyptian was staring back at him disbelievingly. He blinked a few times, the clock ticking with every blink, and he cleared his throat.

"You serious?" he asked uncertainly, drained off of all prior humor.

Bakura gave a calm nod and the blond began to fiddle with the hem of the shirt he had borrowed. He averted his eyes but otherwise seemed as calm as the other male. "Why?"

With a shrug Bakura turned back to the piano. "I told you, you have a nice singing voice, didn't I?"

"Yes, but", Malik trailed off, never ceasing the fidgeting. "I didn't think you actually meant it."

"Well, I do mean what I say from time to time. So how about it? Gonna sing or not?" Bakura asked but did not wait for the other to answer as he began play. And he had not been lying, he could actually play the song and he did not even need the sheets to know which piano keys to press. It sounded so beautiful that Malik felt like melting away. He closed his eyes and exhaled contently. He might have not been the biggest fan of the movie but that did not mean he could not adore the music. The melody started off gentle and Malik knew that it was his turn when it became a bit quieter.

He silently took a deep breath and just let his voice do the work, simply letting go and doing what felt right.

To the twins' surprise the first words were not 'every night' but words they did not understand.

"_Kol lela fe hhelme… bashoofak fe khayale",_ the young Egyptian sang with that dulcet voice of his.

Bakura almost missed a beat, not because he had been surprised that Malik was singing in Arabic but because of how unearthly beautiful it sounded. He kept on playing, eager to hear more and his wish was granted. The fact that he knew exactly which keys to press allowed him to look away from the instrument for a moment to catch a glimpse of what his Egyptian singer looked like. Malik had his eyes closed, putting all of his heart into the words he was voicing, but just as much oblivious to the albino observing him. A tanned hand came up to rest in the center of his chest, feeling his own heart beat. Bakura found himself unable to look away from the display of raw emotions. Unfortunately, he had to look away eventually because the next part he had to play requested more of his attention.

Malik had not noticed a thing and kept singing but they both had completely forgotten that they were not alone. Chocolate brown eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. Suspicion because the whole scene was highly suspicious in his observant eyes. Unlike many dense people he knew, he noticed immediately when something was not like it usually was or when someone was not behaving like themselves. And that was exactly the case. He watched as his twin's gaze shifted once more from the piano over to where the singing teen was standing. He was looking into his direction unusually frequently. But that was not all. Ryou admittedly did not know that much about their relationship but they had to be good friends, otherwise Bakura would not interact with him the way he did. He mocked the blond from time to time, sure, but it was not very insulting. He was actually being nice to the boy. The looks, the smiles, the playful comments. It was as if - Ryou's eyes widened - as if they were _flirting._

He almost gasped aloud but was quick enough to cover his mouth. 'What are you thinking?', he yelled in his head. 'Boys can be like that sometimes. They don't have to be flirting to act this way. So shake it off!' He told himself so but could not deny that he was thinking in exactly that direction even more intensely now. He looked up just in time to see Bakura steal another glimpse of the blond. It only served to make his theory more realistic. He shook his head frantically. 'Really, I'm imagining things. It's just weird because Bakura's only friend used to be Mariku and of course those two would never be nice to each other. Yes, that's it. I'm simply not used to the concept of Bakura being friends with someone and actually acting like a friend.'

Ryou had been so deep in his thoughts that he had missed most of the song. Fortunately, he was able to hear the climax of the song. After a piano solo on Bakura's side and a small pause on Malik's side, said blond inhaled deeply for the most important part of the song, his eyes fluttering closed once more.

_"__Leh el fora...? __Aah... men el fora__!" _It sounded bittersweet, like a person being desperately and hopelessly in love. Malik made it sound that way, he even emitted those emotions. He was not simply singing. He was putting actual emotions into his voice, as if singing was his own language, his way to express his feelings. Feelings so pure yet so strong. Ryou felt shivers run down his spine and goosebumps form. He had not expected to hear such heavenly tones when his brother had called it a 'nice singing voice'.

Bakura was just as much mesmerized as his brother, only he had to concentrate on playing the piano. Even though he had played the song many times already, it proved to be a difficult task when Malik was being such a great distraction. He had gotten what he wanted nonetheless. He had been looking for a way to make the Egyptian sing ever since he had first heard his voice. And now that he had finally been granted his wish, it sounded even more beautiful than in his memories. He had never thought that a person's voice would catch his attention before their looks did, but this had been exactly the case with Malik. Maybe this was why Malik was so different.

Bakura played the last notes and was able to look at Malik again. His rich, lavender eyes opened, looking softly at the pianist staring back at him.

_"Habebe...", _he sang gently, drifting off in a trmebling voice to signale the end of the song. With their eyes locked in an inaudible conversation, they both smiled.

Clapping could be heard in the background and both turned to look at its origin. "That was amazing!" Ryou praised with a bright smile, still clapping.

Malik scratched his cheek sheepishly and Bakura cleared his throat awkwardly, both had completely forgotten about Ryou because they had been so busy. "Thank you", Malik said at long last but put a hand to his forehead in the next moment. "Uh... I think my own voice just gave me a massive headache."

Ryou immediately jumped to help. "Oh, right. I'll go and get you some painkillers", he announced and as quickly as he had said it he was gone. And with him the cheerful mood left as well. The silence from before returned in which only the ticking of the clock could be heard. In the silence Bakura found his chance to rethink something he had been thinking about all morning. His hand reached out to touch the side of his neck that tickled at the memory. He remembered the previous night and everything that had happened. He wondered if Malik did, too. He could ask him as long as Ryou was still gone, it was now or never.

"Malik?" Said teen looked up expectantly and Bakura actually had to force himself to ask the question. 'What the hell is wrong with me? It's just a question!'

"Uhm... Do you remember what happened last night?" he asked, uncharacteristically uncertain.

Malik thought back, trying his best to recall everything, in vain. Most of it was just blurry images and flashes of what he must have done. He remembered ruining another one of Mariku's and Ryou's moments. He remembered meeting Anzu and the other girls, and Miho.

Miho. For some reason Malik felt like Miho had played a greater role than simply having been present. But what was it? The feeling in his stomach was telling him that whatever she had done must have been something negative. He still did not know what but it was probably unimportant anyway. Furthermore, he remembered that he drank something. He did not remember what it was, not even the taste or color, only that it had been something alcoholic. He figured he had gotten drunk. That explained why he remembered so little and why he had this really nasty headache now. Hopefully Ryou would find those pain killers soon.

Seeing the impatience in his partner's eyes reminded him that he had to give an answer. "I got drunk, didn't I?"

Bakura averted his eyes and Malik became uneasy. Just what did he do last night? "Well, yes... Do you remember anything else?" As Bakura asked, he unconsciously rubbed a certain spot on his neck again.

The blond shook his head and Bakura did not know whether he should feel relieved or disappointed. He decided to simply be Bakura, someone he had not been in a while if he thought about it. "Doesn't matter. Nothing much happened anyway", he said and his hand fell from his neck.

Malik did not buy it though. The feeling in the pit of his stomach was telling him that something did happen. Something he wished he knew about so he could rest without having to worry about what it might have been.

Bakura caught the disbelieve in his eyes and went on to another subject. He crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back casually. He gave the impression of a perfectly relaxed person but his inner turmoil said otherwise. "Say...", he began and narrowed his eyes to focus on the tanned teen before him. "What happened to your nose?"

Malik reflexively put a hand on his nose to cover it, recalling the painful memory. He wanted to ask 'What do you mean?' and play dumb but the look in Bakura's eyes told him that he had already revealed himself with his reaction. He stared at the floor in defeat. "I... uhm..."

"You what?"

Malik could only imagine that the make-up he had put on must have gone off over night and his nose was probably as purple as his eyes, only darker. He then remembered the excuse he had used on Mariku.

"I ran into a door", he lied confidentally, pretending to be embarrassed by admitting so. However, Bakura was not satisfied with that answer, Malik could tell by the way his eyes narrowed even more.

Never before had he been so glad to see Ryou like then. Said Touzoku came in with a bottle of pills. The subject was dropped for now and was not brought up again. Malik changed back into his own clothes and returned the ones Bakura had stolen from his brother's closet. Ryou was naturally confused but Bakura promised to explain it later - which he never did. Malik thanked everyone for their hospitality and left without breakfast, feeling a bit too nauseous to eat.

At home he did not even have to explain himself, at least not in detail. When Isis asked him where he had been, he said that he had spent the night at his friend's place after all because it had gotten too late. His sister did not ask any more question, she only gave him this strange look again. Women. Just what was their problem? Malik did not understand. Rishid had been worried sick and Malik had to assure him that nothing had happened to him, that he was fine and he had to promise to tell him if he was staying at a friend's place in the future.

And then there was Mariku. Malik had always thought that he knew his brother the best but even he had to admit that this time he did not know what was wrong with him. His brother did not talk to him, only occasionally looked at him darkly. It was as if he had found out Malik had done something wrong. A horrible idea came to his mind. Did Mariku figure it out? No, that could not be, he told himself, if Mariku knew then he would be dead already - not literally. The reaction would have been more violent if he had really found out about him allying himself with Bakura to ruin his relationship. But if that was not it, then what was?

* * *

><p>Malik had just come home from another very stressful day of school. A new round of rumors had come to life just because he had been seen with Bakura in a club. He had had to endure the wildest stories and question today and was overjoyed to be back home. He was rather surprised to find that Isis was also at home already. He dropped his bag beside the couch in the living room and went to stand in front of the table she was sitting at. She was holding a black piece of paper of the size of a card, looking at it intensely. Malik knew she had noticed him coming in but she did not look up from the card regardless.<p>

"What's that?" the younger Ishtar asked curiously, referring to the card.

Finally, she looked up, her azure eyes troubled and worried. Instead of answering, she stretched her hand out for him to take the piece of paper. Malik took hold of it reluctantly and read what was written on it. His eyes widened in disbelief. 'This can't be...'

_'Tonight I am going to steal your museum's greatest treasure._

_Yours sincerely,_

_the Thief King'_

Malik looked back up at his sister with wide eyes, not believing that this was really true. She nodded seriously. "This note was found in the museum this morning."

"But.. this... what did the director say?"

Isis took the card back and focused on it again. "He ordered extra security to be posted in the section where the crown jewels are kept."

"What?" Malik said in an offended tone and slammed his hands on the kitchen table. "But he should protect the Sennen Items! That's what they're after, not some jewels!"

"I know what you mean, Malik", Isis said calmly. "But we can't be sure. The jewels are worth quite a high sum after all. And...", she trailed off with a sad look. "...the director also told me to return the Sennen Torc and Rod."

"Is he mad? There's a thief going to break in tonight and he wants the Sennen Items back? At a time like this? They're much safer where they are now."

His sister shook her head. "I know, Malik, I know. But he threatened to dismiss me if I don't return them."

The blond fell silent. So that was the reason, he should have thought so. No matter what he did now, something bad was going to happen. It was either his sister losing her job or that thief getting away with stealing the remaining six Sennen Items. What to do? The boy screwed his eyes shut and put a clenched fist to his forehead. 'Think, Malik, think! There has to be something you can do!'

His eyes opened up wide. There _was _something he could do.

* * *

><p>AN: Any guesses as to what might happen?

Translation anyone?

'Kol lela fe hhelme bashoofak fe khayale' means 'Every night in my dreams I see you in my imagination'

'Leh el fora...? Aah... men el fora' means 'Why the separation...? Aah... from the separation'

Again no guarantee that it's correct. I believe Vivian Bishara is Lebanese but I'm not sure. Gotta learn Arabic. And YOU gotta listen to the song because it's damn beautiful! It's hard to understand my description if you haven't been listening to the song before.

So? Did anyone die here (probably the part where Bakura was playing the piano xD)? I have 4 more dates planned but that doesn't mean we only have 4 more chapters left, nope. More Thiefshipping, more Deathshipping and more drama! You have been warned~ See you in chapter 7!


	7. Secrets

A/N: You really should see me freak out when I read from you, it's just priceless xD And here's the thank-you-list and the replies:

**Saminagg** (Mariku doesn't KNOW yet, he's just very suspicious now),

**Elle-L** (I just can't say 'thank you' enough! Yes about Ryou, let's just say he won't be the 'victim' forever~ I feel bad writing about his misery, so yeah…),

**Homicidal****Whispers **(That's the first word I learned, too, and my friend also taught me to write it as 'Habibi' but seeing all the I's in the lyrics replaced by E's I just wasn't sure anymore and my friend told there were different ways to write it. And thank you!)

**ToriPANDAKun** (I believe it was her, yes~ and no problem, thank you for being such a loyal reader and reviewer!)

**Kuracakes** (Ich glaube ich sollte ihr dankbar sein~ Danke! Und wow, ich fühl mich echt... special :D und wo das herkommt, gibt's noch viel mehr... das klang komisch~)

**ryoubakura98** (Yes, it was indeed a good one! It has to do with screwing up orders but I can't tell you more~ Thanks again! And getting drunk is serious business~)

**Pockyfeind** (I'm happy that you enjoy it!)

**LadySunami** (I… kinda forgot to mention that. In my head they paid the drinks right after they ordered them. Sorry! I also feel bad for Miho. It's really not like I dislike her and I didn't want to make it seem that way. It's just that she was unlucky enough to play that roll. To me he just looks like he can sing… and dance :'D Indeed~ I couldn't imagine Bakura being such a bastard and thought he wouldn't use his 'friend' like that. Really? You liked the singing scene? Oh wow, and I thought everyone would be like 'what the hell did that girl smoke when she wrote that?' Gah! Thank you! Tell me: y u know so much? It's scary xD The Thief King question is going to be (partially) solved in this chapter~ I'm sorry if the long reply creeped you out, I just can't help it D:)

**BloodyRose98 **(I'm so glad you do! Indeed, he can be a nice guy if he only wants to)

**ObliviousAnimeGirl** (I'm updating, I'm updating! Just don't cry! XD And I'm happy that you like it so much!)

**sun-flavour** (Woher hast du gewusst, dass ich deutsch spreche? Oh warte, das stand irgendwo~ Danke, das bedeutet mir viel! Das wusste ich nicht, tut mir leid! . Ich hatte noch nie so eine echte Nasenverletzung, deswegen wusste ich nicht, wie so was ausgehen kann. Man lernt immer dazu~ Oh, das ist so eine Art falsches Bild, das ich aus der Welt schaffen will. Ich war schon oft... betrunken, aber ich hatte noch nie einen Kater und konnte mich nur einmal nicht an etwas erinnern, aber das kam mit der Zeit wieder. Ich dachte nur es wäre... ‚over-used' wenn Malik mit nem totalen Kater aufgewacht wäre. Tut mir leid, wenn das merkwürdig war! Um ehrlich zu sein, ich hab D. N. Angel noch nie angeschaut. Ich bin durch Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne draufgekommen~ Okay, das Bild werde ich nie mehr aus dem Kopf kriegen xD Ich schreibe gerne viel (wie du gerade merkst), also muss ich lange Kapitel schreiben. Freut mich, dass es dir so gefällt und danke für die Kritik!)

Phew... what I wanted to ask you guys: Do you have the feeling that I'm rushing things? I feel like I do but I don't know… Anyway! Have a whole chapter of Thiefshipping from head to toe! (I loved writing this~)

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

Secrets

"What brings you here today, _dearest__ partner_?" Bakura asked in a mocking tone.

Malik was standing in front of his partner who was sitting comfortably on his bed. He observed the other with a serious look and crossed his arms. "They call you the 'Thief King', right?"

Bakura played with a strand of snow white haired, giving the perfect image of disinterest and boredom. "Yeah. So?"

At that Malik's eyes darkened and he dove a hand into the pocket of his jacket, retrieving a black card and throwing it into his partner's direction. Bakura caught it easily and eyed the object suspiciously. "What's that?" he questioned, looking back at the other teen.

"Read it." Bakura obliged and read what was written on the card. Malik watched his eyes turn from suspicious to disbelieving, but he had expected such a reaction. After a moment the older teen looked back up again.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"It was found in the museum this morning. Whoever wrote this calls himself the 'Thief King'", Malik explained, putting emphasis on the last part and Bakura got the hint.

"If you're implying that it's me who wrote this, then I'll have to disappoint you, kiddo", Bakura answered. He sounded offended to Malik's ears, especially with that tone and the hated nickname.

"So you think there's another one out there calling themselves the Thief King."

"Apparently, yes."

Then, to Bakura's surprise, Malik smiled. "I thought so", he said and flopped down on the bed beside his friend who was rather confused by the boy's behaviour. "As for what I came for..."

"That's not what you came for?" the albino asked dumbfoundedly and Malik shook his head.

"Not exactly", he said. "I have a request."

"I should have known", Bakura muttered to himself but Malik went on regardless.

"You see", he began and took the card out of the other's hands again, "it reads that they want to steal the greatest treasure. While the director believes this to be some crown jewels, I'm sure that in truth they're after the Sennen Items."

"The what?" Bakura interrupted.

"The Sennen Items. Those are... _were _seven ancient Egyptian artifacts. One of them was stolen about a year ago", Malik explained, missing how the teen beside him shifted his eyes to the floor. "I'm sure that the thief from back then and this one are the same and that he or she wants to steal the remaining artifacts now."

"And your request is about...?" The younger teen looked from his friend to the floor as well. This was the part he had not been looking forward to.

"I want you to help me steal the Sennen Items before that thief does." Silence filled the room for a very long moment. Malik did not dare to look up. He had not expected this to be so awkward and so hard to ask. But what had he expected? Had he really expected Bakura to just agree without hesitating?

"Just for the record, you want _me_ to help _you__ steal_ some artifacts." The younger teen simply nodded. This did not sound good.

"That's quite the request, I gotta admit. What's in it for me if I may ask?"

Another part he had neither expected - although he should have - nor considered. As he was not able to come up with anything else, he answered in a small vocie, "Anything. Anything that I can give you."

"How do I know if your 'anything' is really worth this whole operation?"

"That depends on what you ask of me."

"Touché", Bakura said and leaned back, supported by his hands on the mattress. He grinned at the Egyptian who turned to finally look at him. "What's your plan, partner?"

Malik blinked at him with confused, wide eyes, the flame of hope coming to life. "Does... does that mean you're helping me?"

Bakura shrugged in response. "Looks like. So, do you have a plan? It's not like I go to the museum every day and I don't want to go unprepared."

At that, the tanned teen stood up and went to the bag he had dropped on the floor. He pulled out a golden necklace and rod and after giving the latter a tortured look he presented the items to his friend. "These are two of the Sennen Items."

"If you already have two, then why can't you take the others as well?" Bakura asked but Malik shook his head.

"It's not that easy. These two belonged to our family which is why my sister took them without permission. But the director threatened to dismiss her if she doesn't bring them back."

"What's the point in showing those to me then?"

"The point is that I have to bring them back", he explained and put the items back into his bag, glad that he woud no longer have to touch that cursed rod.

Bakura sat up straight with a grin. "I see. So we're gonna use that chance to get a better look of the museum and make a plan."

Malik smiled back at him and closed the bag. "Exactly."

* * *

><p>"And you're sure it's safe to just walk in and put them back in their boxes?" Bakura asked his partner in a hushed voice.<p>

"Trust me, it's foolproof."

"Is it also Malik-proof? Ouch!"

"Stop joking around and get to work!" the Egyptian commanded with his fist still raised while his partner rubbed the spot on his head he had hit.

The albino scowled at him. "Quit bossing me around. I could simply leave you alone in your quest and you'd have nothing to convince me to help you again."

Sadly, Bakura had a good point and Malik knew it. He had gotten so carried away in what seemed to be their friendship that he had forgotten that, although Bakura was his friend, he did not know how much he would do for him. How far he would go. This reminded Malik that Bakura had been a loner before they had teamed up and that he still was that person.

Malik's fist lowered unconsciously and with it his lavender eyes dropped, too. He had never observed their relationship from this angle. Bakura's my friend this, he's my friend that. But he had never thought that maybe Bakura did not even think of him as a friend.

_"What's so strange about driving your friend home?"_

Those had been his exact words. He had used the word 'friend'. But how did Bakura view friends and how did Malik? It was difficult to say since Malik had no experience whatsoever when it came to friends. But he was sure that he viewed Bakura as one. Only did he not know whether his partner and friend felt the same way. He did not know but felt a tug at his heart, the urge to keep this white haired thief close. He was his first, only and best friend after all. And he did not want to risk that, let alone lose it. He decided that for the time being he would have to watch his actions. He might be walking on thin ice, any wrong comment could make Bakura leave. And that was the least he wanted.

Bakura was slowly starting to worry. Malik's mood had changed drastically and it was not for the better. The boy looked much like a puppy that had been kicked - Bakura could not help but imagine Mariku as the one to hurt the whelp, it was simply what he would do. He had lapsed into silence so suddenly after his last comment and his expression made him look like he was having an inner debate with himself that might give him an awful headache. Since his eyes had averted to the floor, Bakura had to bend down to get the boy to look at him. It did not work, there was no eye contact, as if he was not even present.

"Hey", he tried, soft and gentle and right after that one word had left his mouth he grimaced at the strange sweetness. He did not even know he was capable of sounding so genuinely concerned. "You alright?" But really, he was.

Malik seemed to finally snap back to reality. He shook his head as if he had just been torn out of a realistic daydream. "Yes", he replied but it sounded more like a question even to his own ears. "Let's just go inside already", he said solemnly and went ahead, leaving his partner to stare suspiciously at the back of his head.

Things went smoothly, just like Malik had promised. To the eyes of visitors they were workers who put some artifacts into some show cases. In reality, however, they were criminals, checking out the future scene of the crime. They scanned the museum for cameras and security, memorized all exits and the security measures of the cases the Sennen Items were kept in. They did not raise any suspicion and left the way they had come. They had everything they needed to make a plan.

They went back to Bakura's home where the young criminal got a huge piece of paper. With a black marker he drew the rough ground plan of the museum. Next he took a yellow marker to write 'target' in the blank space that was the hall of the Sennen Items. He then picked up a blue marker to draw circles where guards stood and cameras were installed. He picked the red marker at last and drew all exits. After he was done he gave his partner in crime a triumphant yet expectant look. "So, partner, I'd say that this is going to be a piece of cake if this situation remains", he said, tapping the closed marker on the paper.

Malik smiled at the good news. "The easier the better. I just want to get it over with and be done."

"I'd be thankful for a little challenge."

"There's still this other Thief King you can challenge", the blond suggested boredly, he was more interested in a safe plan right now. If their success were not so important to him he would appreciate a thrilling adventure as well, maybe. If he did not have to worry about the Sennen Items so much, he would actually enjoy what they were about to do. He had never stolen anything before, and breaking the rules had always attracted him somehow. It was in his nature to seek new things and do the forbidden.

"True", Bakura muttered under his breath and let the subject drop. Instead he bent over the hand-drawn card and put the tip of his marker on the paper. "And now to the plan."

* * *

><p>"I feel like a criminal", Malik mumbled as he pulled the black mask over his head, tugging all of his hair in it. Bakura did almost the same, only he tied his hair into a high ponytail before he put on the mask.<p>

"It was you who asked me to do this", he commented, swallowing the 'You practically are a criminal' that had already been lying on his tongue.

The younger huffed. "I know, I know." While his partner was putting on his gloves, he stole a glance at the entrance. There were two guards posted on each side of the large door, just as expected and just as planned. He squinted his eyes to get a better look at them and after a moment they widened considerably and he gasped.

"What's wrong?"

Malik shakily pointed a finger into the direction of the guards and Bakura followed it with his eyes. "T-that's... that's my brother, that's Rishid", the Egyptian whispered breathlessly.

"If you want to stop, we can still-" the older teen began but was interrupted when the other shook his head.

"No", he said solemnly. "I need to do this."

"Is it really only because of those artifacts?" Bakura questioned with one raised eyebrow and the other nodded. "Why do you risk so much just to protect them anyway?"

Malik paused in thought for a long moment until he stood up from the dirty ground. "You wouldn't understand."

At that Bakura narrowed his burning, crimson eyes dangerously. "Oh, I wouldn't, would I?" he growled offendedly but his partner simply ignored the comment, hoping they could start this raid and get it over with already. And as if Ra had heard his prayers and decided to help him, the lights of the museum went out and left the building and its surroundings pitch-black.

"There. That's our cue", Bakura said and they both lost no time in getting to work. They had agreed that it was safe to begin when the 'Thief King' began who had decided to switch off the lights as his intro. With a bit of luck, the security guys would be too distracted by the actual thief to even notice them, if not there was still plan B. But for now luck was on their side because the guards, including Rishid, both were alarmed by the sudden darkness and ran in to possibly aid their colleagues.

The partners nodded to each other and quickly and stealthily approached the building. However, they could not use the actual entrance yet because of the camera there. Fortunately, they had prepared for this situation. Bakura pulled a can from his backpack and handed it to his younger partner who took it with a confused look.

"If you wanna steal something then you'll have to learn how to do it properly", the albino explained. Malik hesitated for a moment but knew that they had no time for arguments. He carefully snuck to the entrance with his back touching the wall. After taking a deep breath he stretched out his arm with the can and sprayed the thick smoke directly into the camera's direction. Its view was now successfully clouded and they could pass. Malik quickly turned his head and nodded to his partner who immediately joined him to enter the building.

They had just entered when they suddenly saw a light from further away in the hall. As fast and quietly as possible they pressed themseves to the nearest wall. They made no noise, did not even breathe until the guard had run into a different direction and was out of sight. Both let out the breath they had been holding and sighed in relief. And Malik had to admit it. No matter how much this was against his family's wishes and morals, it was simply a thrilling adventure he had never had the pleasure of enjoying ever before. But he had to admit one more thing. And that was that he only dared to do this because he knew that Bakura was with him. He absent-mindedly glanced over to said teen whose face was currently covered by a dark mask. He knew that as long as he had his friend around, nothing would happen. And even if something went wrong, he still had the feeling that he was safe. Malik wanted to say something then but decided to leave it for later. At the moment there were more urgent things that needed to be taken care of. So he went to go further into the hall but a strong tug on his wrist stopped him.

"Wait", Bakura said in a hushed voice. "That spray has another use, remember?"

He did remember and shifted his eyes to the can in his hands. Then he used the spray once more, this time he let the cloud of smoke float in the air before them. Sure enough, the smoke hit its target and fine red beams became visible. Startled by how close he was to touching one of the beams, Malik took a few steps backwards until he was standing beside his partner again.

"Those guys must have activated them after going inside", Bakura mused. Then he put a hand on the Egyptians back, pushing slightly. "What are you standing there doing nothing? Jump over them."

"Jump?" the blond repeated incredulously. "How am I supposed to do that? They're way to high for me to simply jump over them." To stress his point he pointed at the highest string of red that reached his hip. Bakura rolled his eyes almost automatically.

"Step aside and watch, you amateur." With a push, Malik was standing behind Bakura who went another three steps backwards. He bent down like a panther before it attacked its prey and in the next moment he sprinted forward. Lavender eyes watched in awe as the albino's body flew gracefully over the dangerous red beams, rolling onto the floor to prevent damage and within the blink of an eye he was standing straight again. Malik's jaw dropped and his partner smirked at him victoriously. He quickly composed himself , making a motion as if to roll up his sleeve. If Bakura could do this then Malik could do this as well.

The blond took another step backwards, just to be safe, and Bakura snickered from the other side. "Come on, we haven't got all night. I'll even catch you if you fall."

Malik gave a furious growl. "Tch... I'd rather fall", he lied. Of course, being caught would be more comfortable than hitting the hard floor. Yes, he would rather land in Bakura's chest, in his protective arms than- 'Wait! ...I think I prefer the floor over that douche's chest... Oh Ra, why am I even comparing those two options so seriously?'

"Maaaalik...", Bakura called in a playful yet mother-like tone, "I just told you we haven't got all night. Oh, wait. Or are you actually considering my offer?"

The boy's face grew hot almost immediately when he realized just how true that was. "No, just shut up", he said grumpily. Finally, he began to sprint forward. He jumped a bit too close to the beams and both noticed it. Bakura approached him while Malik quickly pulled up both of his legs so as to not touch the dangerous beams. Unfortunately, he had been so distracted by avoiding the beams that he was too late to make a painless landing. Drawing closer to the floor that was sure to come, he instinctively grabbed onto the first thing that came into reach. He had even screwed his eyes shut when he thought he was going to hit the floor but then he found something to hold onto. Shortly after, he felt something envelop him securely and pull him back onto his feet. And he knew, it could only be him. Malik looked up and as expected found his partner gazing down at him. In that moment, he found himself unable to push him away or say something rude. Or say anything for that matter. His hands had clenched in the other's dark shirt and he tightened his grip unconsciously as he stared. He could not see much of the other's face due to the mask but he could distinguish the deep brown eyes with the blood red tinge. And although he could not see it, he could swear from the way the older teen was looking at him, that he was smirking. It should piss him off, like it always did. But this time it did not, and it scared him in some way. That he had not only gotten used to this but that he actually enjoyed it. And if he was honest, he never was as furious anymore every time Bakura made a witty remark or smirked at him. In fact, he liked it. Because that was the way Bakura treated him, and only him. That look, only he received it in that way. He had watched him look at others but he never observed them with the same intensity. He felt warm, a nice warmth. And he felt special.

Bakura was just as much lost in the moment as the Egyptian was. He simply stared at his wide, violet eyes that never left his own. He did not know how much time had passed, probably only seconds but it had felt much longer. Yet he had to come back to reality. He heard footsteps coming closer. 'Shit!' he thought and pulled Malik behind the nearest wall with him. Two more men quickly checked their area but did not come close enough to actually see them. In the meantime, Bakura was able to enjoy the feeling of his partner clinging to him willingly. While they were waiting for the men to vanish again, he began to wonder. When exactly had the young Egyptian become so... He did not know which word would describe it best. Trusting maybe. The boy had simply become more open with him, even nicer. When they first met, of course, they were strangers. And it had not been such a long time either, but Bakura had to admit it, at least to himself, that they seriously had become friends. He thought more intensely about it. Friends? Really? He had always enjoyed teasing the blond, even in less appropriate ways, but he had to question himself - was that what friends did? Except for Mariku he had never had any friends before. And, honestly, he would never approach the older Egyptian in the way he did with his younger brother. With Malik it had always been more playful and good-naturedly, with Mariku it was more malicious. He had fun spending time with Mariku, yes, but if he had to choose between the two brothers, he would probably pick the younger one. In some way, he felt very comfortable around Malik. He could be childish, haughty, serious or quiet around him. No matter in what sort of mood he was, even when he was angry, around him he did not feel bad anymore. In fact, he felt better when he could see that beautiful face, especially when he could see him smile. Any expression he made would do, but his smile was special. It could make him forget about everything. Just thinking about it made him calm and content.

A tug on his shirt made him come back to reality. He blinked quickly and looked down at the Egyptian he was still holding tightly in his arms. "Uhm...", the younger teen began uncertainly. One look was enough for Bakura to know that he was embarrassed. "I think they're gone. You can... let go, you know." The albino glanced down at their position. His arms were locked around the other's waist while Malik had his hands clenching the fabric of his shirt to keep his balance. He let go and cleared his throat awkwardly. He usually did not space out like that.

"Anyway. Let's go then", he said and Malik nodded. Bakura led the way even though his partner knew the building better than him. As the more experienced one, and the Thief King no less, he felt responsible and protective. Inwardly he laughed at his own thoughts, 'Protective of Malik? Just when exactly did we reach that point? Really now... I should pull myself together. If this were another one of Ryou's and his lover's dates then I'd keep telling me that but... this is kinda a favor I'm doing him... But it's also about my pride as the actual Thief King. Actually, it's mainly about that. Oh yes, that's why. That's _exactly_ why-'

"Bakura, that's the wrong way", Malik whispered feverishly and his partner stopped in his tracks abruptly.

'I... really should stop thinking so much.' "Yeah, I know", he said, very unconvincing, and Malik raised an eyebrow. 'Concentrate on what's at hand, damnit!' the thief told himself furiously as he turned to go into the opposite direction. Malik observed his tense form suspiciously and shook his head. He did not understand why he was acting so strange all of a sudden.

They finally reached their destination, the Sennen hall. But the room was not completely unguarded. The two men from before were present. One of them guarded the entrance and the other was looking around the room for any signs of a thief.

"Here comes 'Lesson No. 2'", Bakura said and retrieved a small box from his backpack. He opened it and picked up a pin. "How to knock out people."

"What are those?" Malik asked curiously and Bakura gave him a sly smirk.

"The needle of each and every one of those pins has a substance on them that will make you fall asleep instantly. It only lasts for about half an hour but that's more than enough for us to get the items and get out of here." His partner nodded, understanding. Stealthily, like the professional criminal he was, Bakura crept closer to his victim so as to be in reach. When he was close enough but not too close for the man to notice him, he threw the pin. It hit the man's neck soundlessly. The man choked a bit after being hit in the neck but became silent soon after and collapsed onto the cold floor. "One down." Mahogany eyes wandered to the remaining guard. "One to go." He turned around to his astounded partner who was hesitantly coming closer. He held out his second pin for him. "Want to try?"

Malik only shook his head rapidly and Bakura shrugged his shoulders. "Your loss."

The second guard had heard it when his colleague collapsed and turned around. When he saw the other male lying on the floor, he immediately went up to him and shook him, trying to get him to answer. Bakura took his chance and threw the second pin. It hit the man in the arm and just like the other, he also collapsed. The white thief left their hiding spot behind the wall and went into the room carefully. He scanned his surroundings. Everything was still dark but he could not see anything move. He turned to his partner who was still cowering in the corner where he had left him. "I think the coast is clear. You can come out." With that the Egyptian, too, went into the room. Meanwhile, his partner took a flashlight from his bag and illuminated the place a bit. The light hit the glass of the show cases in which all six Sennen Items laid untouched.

Malik's face lit up. 'They haven't been stolen yet. We did it!" He eagerly began to walk towards the items. He was stopped, however, by Bakura who had stretched out his arm in front of him. The younger teen looked at his partner, at first annoyed but then he saw the look in his eyes and how they scanned the area over and over again. He began to worry. "What is it?"

"It's just...", the albino began wearily, his eyes never ceasing to look around the room. "It's too easy."

Malik sighed. "That's what you're worried about? Oh Ra, Bakura, and I thought there was someone. If it's because you're annoyed that this wasn't enough fun for you then-"

"Watch out!" Bakura yelled and pushed Malik down onto the floor. All Malik could register was how they hit the floor painfully and the sound of shattering glass. They both sat up and turned to where the noise had come from. Their eyes widened simultaneously at what they saw. In front of them, in one of the now broken show cases, stood a figure clad in dark clothes, the color was not clear in the darkness but the person wore a white mask which looked much like one a joker would wear. A black ponytail rested on the back of his head. In one of his hands he was holding the pistol he had just used to break the glass and in the other he was holding a golden necklace.

"The Sennen Torc!" Malik yelled desperately as the scenario he had wanted to avoid at any cost became reality. It was then that they finally became aware of the alarm that had gone off when the other thief had shattered the glass. The thief raised his gun again and aimed for the remaining show cases. Bakura quickly got off of his partner and grabbed something from his bag. In the meantime the other thief had managed to take hold of the Rod and Puzzle as well. Malik had gotten off the floor and ran towards the thief. He saw Malik approach him and aimed for the boy's head with his pistol.

A clicking sound could be heard and the thief's attention shifted to what was behind the Egyptian. "I wouldn't even think about it, if I were you", came the dangerous threat from Bakura who was now holding a gun of his own. Seeing that the thief did not react in any way, he took advantage of that to give his partner a command. "Kiddo", he barked, "Get the fucking items! What are you waiting for?" At first Malik was slightly annoyed that his partner was treating him like that but as he went to collect the remaining items, the Scale, Key and Eye, he became aware of the fact that Bakura had saved him twice at once. He was the one pointing a gun at the one who had been pointing a gun at him and he had not revealed his name by calling him 'kiddo'. He therefore showed his gratitute by quickly collecting the remaining pieces of gold. When he was finished, he went to stand beside Bakura again. What now?

"So you're the one who calls himself the 'Thief King', huh?" Bakura was highly pissed that this guy had stolen his title, but at the same time he was thrilled to see what this other Thief King was made of. But their moment of rivalry was interrupted when the other guards entered the room. The other thief was distracted for a moment and Bakura used this to shoot. For once he was thankful for his aiming skills, because his bullet hit the other's gun dead on, making it fly out of his hand and onto floor. The thief then began to flee towards the window.

"Wait up, you bastard!" Bakura called after him but was reminded that there were other men now who wanted to see him in jail. 'Shit.' Their personal fight would have to wait for another time. And there would be another time, he was sure of it. Malik had already begun to chase after the other thief. He accidentally dropped the Sennen Eye but Bakura was quick to pick it up while running after him.

"Wait!" Malik shouted at the fleeing thief and managed to grab something he was holding. The thief did not seem to care about losing one of the stolen goods and simply let Malik take it, if that meant that he could flee. Malik was a bit taken aback by the lack of resistance and stumbled backwards. He looked at what he was holding in his hand and his eyes widened when a golden eyeball looked straight back at him. He yelped and dropped the object as if it had burnt him. His wide eyes stared at the item in horror - the Sennen Rod.

Meanwhile, Bakura was fighting to get rid of the guards chasing them. He looked over his shoulder and threw his gun at the men. It hit one of them right on his forehead, successfully distracting him. But there was still the rest and there was - Bakura recognized him better than ever before - Rishid. Unfortunately, the tall Egyptian was unexpectedly fast and caught up with Bakura. He reached for the thief and grabbed his mask from behind. However, the teen reacted quickly by pulling a knife from his pocket. He cut off the part Rishid was holding onto and tore himself away from the grip. In the process the mask had been torn so much that it fell off of his head of white hair. Rishid's eyes widened at the sight but Bakura did not care. "Get the Rod!" he called to his partner who stood frozen, just staring at the artifact. Seeing the hesitation he picked up the Rod himself. He shoved his knife back into his pocket and grabbed his friend's hand to drag him along. They escaped through the window the other thief had used to flee before them and gone they were.

Outisde they ran a few more feet but hid in a thick bush where they calmed their breaths and waited. From the distance they could hear the guards search for them and call to one another, inquiring whether the other had already found something. When steps approached them, Bakura put an arm around his partner's shoulders to pull him closer. "Not a sound", he whispered as quietly as possible. Malik did not even nod for fear it might make the bush rustle and give them away. The steps came closer and closer and he felt as though his heart might beat its way out of his ribcage at any moment. The person even searched the bushes around them but luckily never came across their hiding place. When both were sure he was gone, they let out equally relieved sighs. "We better go home now", Bakura said and Malik looked up at him. He gasped as he realized the change in his partner's appearance.

"Bakura, your mask is gone", he whispered and the other looked away.

"I know... Let's just go home."

* * *

><p>"For now I'm gonna hide them in here", Bakura said as he opened his wardrobe. "I'll find a better place to hide them soon."<p>

Malik nodded, tired now that the thrilling part was over. Not only that. He was also feeling down because they had not managed to protect all of the Senne Items. He especially felt bad about losing the Sennen Torc, it had belonged to his sister after all.

The older teen bent down and opened a small door in the floor of his wardrobe to hide the items in there. In the hideout, shining as golden as the stolen Sennen Items, laid another object that had been hidden there some time ago. Bakura swiftly closed the door as soon as he was finished and turned to his sleepy partner who was already dozing off on his bed. He sighed.

"Malik, you can't sleep here. We have to get you back home before anyone notices that you're gone." The younger teen only gave a sleepy sound of approval and slowly sat up again. He rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"What time is it anyway?"

"About 2 in the morning. Come on, let's get you home so you can have your beauty sleep", Bakura said teasingly.

Malik feigned annoyance as he huffed. "Shut up."

Without waiting any longer they left the house once more and drove to Malik's home. There they both had to climb up the tree that stood in front of Malik's window in order to get into the boy's room. And it worked. Malik had left his window open slightly but it was enough to enter. Bakura followed Malik inside, making the teen wonder why. He sat down on the Egyptian's bed and looked around with a smug expression.

"So this is your room."

"Yeah, so?" Malik asked wearily as he sat down beside him.

"Well..." the albino laid back down on the bed with his arms crossed behind his head in a relaxing manner. "Isn't that a nice place to discuss a few things?" At that, Malik became even more suspicious and he narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"Such as?"

"Such as why you reacted so strange when you saw that rod." There was silence but no answer. Malik looked away from his friend, unable to do anything else in a situation like this. Bakura stayed patient. He could imagine that if the blond reacted like this then there had to be a good reason. Maybe even a reason Malik would not talk about. But he had to hear it. He was sure that if Malik told him he would understand and perhaps he could even help. Furthermore, telling him would mean that he trusted him enough to give away his secrets. Bakura somehow doubted it but he could still hope. Maybe he just had to use a different method. He sat back up again.

"Malik", he said in a serious yet gentle voice but his friend did not look at him. Bakura put a hand over Malik's and the boy visibly tensed at the touch. "If you ever need someone to talk to...", he began and gave the soft, tanned hand a light squeeze, "I'm always there to listen to you." The albino let that statement hanging and stood up to leave. He stopped after one step when his occupied hand would not move. He whirled around and saw Malik holding onto his hand, not intending to let go. He had his head hung low so that his expression was covered so Bakura could not tell what it was like.

_'I'm__ always__ there...'_, the blond's mind repeated. 'Always... there?' He replayed the words over and over again and the more he thought about it, the warmer he felt. It was alright to trust a person who promised you to always be there for you, right?

"Every time...", Malik said and inhaled shakily, "Every time I see the Sennen Rod..." Bakura's eyes widened for a moment but he quickly masked his surprise again. "...I think back to when we used to live in Egypt." The older teen felt the grip on his hand tighten as if to say 'don't go'. To show that he was not going anywhere now, he took a little step back towards Malik but kept holding the other's hand regardless.

"Our family was part of a clan. A clan of tombkeepers that has existed for millennia already. Our clan protects the tomb of an ancient Pharaoh - the Nameless Pharaoh. A prophecy said that he would return someday to reign over Egypt once more and bring peace and justice. As the tombkeepers we had the honorful task of preparing everything for his return. We had to watch over his tomb, study his history and keep everything as it was millennia ago. Each and every one of us had to learn Ancient Egyptian. We had to be able to read and write hieroglyphics and speak the ancient language fluently. For so many years we had to live underground in the most primitive way possible in modern Egypt..." Malik paused and raised his head a bit. Bakura was now able to see his hurt yet hateful eyes.

"But that Pharaoh never returned", Bakura said for his friend. Malik nodded bitterly and went on.

"I had been taught everything about the Pharaoh, everything there was to know about him. I learned it with all of my heart, but deep down I must have known that it was impossible for him to return. I remember how I once asked my...", Malik stopped to take a shaky breath which did not go unnoticed by the albino, "...father why he would return if he had already moved on to the afterlife. My father beat me for asking that question..." Bakura gave him an incredulous look.

'He... what?' he said inwardly, his blood beginning to boil with anger. 'For asking a question?'

"He got so angry... He yelled at me, saying how I could think like that and that, of course, the Pharaoh was going to return. If Isis hadn't come in right then... He stopped beating me when she pleaded him to stop. He always listened to Isis. It's because she looks so much like our mother. At least that's what everyone always said..." Malik looked up at the ceiling. His once sparkling, lavender eyes now looked like two hollow, violet orbs without any sort of life in them. "I never got to know my mother. I... she..."

The young Egyptian was struggling to get the words out but Bakura already knew what he wanted to say. "She died when you were born", he finished for the other.

"Yes... and father had loved her so much. And that is why he adored Isis so much. He never beat her, he did not even yell at her. He was like another person around her. I guess he must have acted the same way when our mother was still alive. Rishid told me that he never had a whip until Mariku began to be rebellious."

'That sounds just like him', Bakura thought and tried not to grin too much. Malik was having a hard time telling him his story after all. And he appreciated his efforts.

"It was usually father who went to the city now and then but Isis was allowed to join him. I always envied her because I had never been on the surface. We didn't blame her but one day... one day Mariku had this plan of going to the surface himself. I was only eight years old then and Mariku was ten. I was hesitant at first but after all I also wanted to leave that dark hole. He offered me to come along and I accepted. He even managed to convince Rishid to cover for us. So on that day father and Isis were out again and we were going to leave as well."

Bakura was drowned in the story, his eyes transfixed on the story teller's changing expression. A primitive life underground, without real education, without being able to see the real world and on top of that an abusive father. He felt rather guilty now. He had overreacted when his father had returned the other day. Compared to Malik he had a wonderful life. He bit his lower lip as he thought back to the memory that was only a few days old. 'Damn, I'm so stupid...'

A feathery light smile was displayed on the tan boy's features. "That was the first day I saw the sun. When we got out of the dungeon I could not open my eyes for a minute. I remember it as if it was yesterday. The fresh air, the warm sun, the hot sand beneath my feet... And then Mariku and I went to the city. We both knew the way because Isis had told us about it many times. We were both speechless when we finally reached the center of the city. So many different people. For the first time we saw people with white skin. We didn't know what tourists were so that really shocked us. Then we reached the market and there was just too much to memorize it all. We had never seen so much food or new books, or such modern clothing. And then we saw something we called a 'shiny box'. Well, of course, we had never seen a TV before. We were practically from ancient Egypt after all. We had no knowledge of the 21st century whatsoever. The only useful thing we had learned was modern Arabic. With that we could ask people about things but Mariku told me that we shouldn't ask too much or else it would seem suspicious. Our clan was supposed to be secret after all. On our way back to the dungeon I had found a magazine with motorcycles."

"Oh, so that's why you have one", Bakura, who had sat down again, commented.

Malik nodded. "Yes, but I had to throw it away again. I couldn't take it in. Neither of us wanted to go back, but eventually we had to. But when we came back... our father was back, too. Of course, he had noticed that we were gone. Father..." the blond had to pause once more. He tried to calm his breathing which was becoming more frantic regardless. Bakura was still holding his hand, so he gave a comforting squeeze and urged him to go on. "Father was so furious... When Mariku and I came in we found our sister crying on the floor. Mariku was trying to get her to talk but all she could do was cry. I heard something from the other room and went inside. I saw Rishid lying on the floor and father was standing over him, beating him with the whip over and over again although he was already unconscious. I gasped and that's when my father noticed me. He stopped beating Rishid and came to me. I... I couldn't move, not really. I backed away to the wall but then I couldn't move anymore. He then began to whip me. Mariku came in when he heard me scream. He tried to help me but was beaten as well. W-when Mariku also fell to the ground he turned back to me. And he... and he grinned. It was such a... a horrible sight. For a moment I thought he was being p-possessed by a demon. I was so scared."

The albino sensed that Malik was nearing the edge of a mental break down and began to stroke the back of his hand with his thumb, trying to soothe him. Malik was trembling and although his hand was cold, it had become damp with sweat. Bakura seemed calm on the outside but only remained so for Malik's sake. He was raging on the inside. He could not believe that there actually was a person who would do this to Malik. 'And Mariku, of course', he quickly added to his train of thoughts when he noticed he was only considering Malik. On top of that they had been children, abused like that by their own flesh and blood.

"He dragged me to an altar and tied me up. He said that I should respect our fate more. A-and he said that he would seal it into my flesh if that was necessary to make me understand. So he took the Sennen Rod... heated up its pointy tip on a flame and... a-and carved hieroglyphics into my back... the history of our clan and our honorable mission."

Shock and terror was not enough to describe how Bakura felt when he heard the shaking Egyptian utter those words. He did not know what to say. Should he even say anything? His question was answered when Malik stood up and for the first time in a while let go of Bakura's hand. He stayed with his back facing his friend and gripped the hem of his black shirt on both sides. He slowly pulled it upwards and mahogany eyes widened when the first row of ancient writing was revealed. Malik pulled his shirt off completely and waited like this. His friend stayed silent and Malik wondered whether he was shocked or disgusted. He could not face the other with this uncertainty. He shut his eyes tightly as he simply went on with his story.

"When he was finished, he released me again. He was careless then and Mariku took advantage of that. He had just come to and picked up the whip father had dropped. He beat father with it once and that made him drop the Sennen Rod. My sight was blurry and I'm still not sure whether it was from the tears or because of the blood loss. So my memory of that part is not clear... but that's probably for the better... I only remember how Mariku held the Rod and how father cursed and still he tried to convince Mariku to drop the Rod again. But Mariku didn't listen to him and he... h-he stabbed father a-and... father..." Malik gasped when he suddenly felt a warm hand on the scars on his back. Fingertips gently trailed down the lines of history. Malik's breath was caught in his throat as his heart began to beat even faster than before. The cold faded away and was replace by a sudden wave of heat.

He could feel the other's breath on his neck as he spoke. "Does Mariku blame himself for what happened?" he asked softly despite the seriousness of the question.

Malik hesitated for a moment. "Well, no... but if I hadn't agreed to go with him-"

"Then you shouldn't blame yourself either", the albino interrupted. He then stopped his ministrations and, although reluctant, wrapped his arms around the younger teen's waist and let his chin rest on his shoulder. "He got what he deserved and it was not your fault." Malik was not exactly convinced by those words but felt something being lift off his chest. He was glad that Bakura did not blame him for his father's death like he had blamed himself all these years. "And you and your siblings deserved a better life than that. Waiting all your life for a king that's never going to come back anyway. And at last you are free. That's all that matters."

"Bakura..." Malik breathed as he could not come up with anything to say. He was just overwhelmed by what he was feeling. He was in the arms of someone who believed he was not at fault. He heard reassuring words that said he could finally live his life now. It was not his fault. Was it true? Had he been wrong all along? His siblings had always told him that he should not blame himself for what happened back then, but he always assumed that they said this because they were worried about him. But if Bakura said that it was not his fault... could he finally believe in those words? His sight began to become blurry with tears but he refused to cry.

"And if that bastard were still alive, I'd make him go to hell with my own hands", Bakura said in a joking tone although he actually meant it. Malik laughed slightly and the older teen smiled at his victory. The Egyptian then turned around in the other's embrace and put his arms around his pale neck to return the hug. He buried his face in the crook of his neck and breathed contently.

"Thank you...", he whispered.

Bakura said nothing in return, he just held the other boy for a long time. When Malik had calmed down, they said goodbye and the older teen left the way he had entered the room, through the window. Malik smiled at his friend one last time before he vanished and he closed the window again. That night Malik was not plagued by any cruel nightmares, instead he had relaxing dreams that allowed him to rest peacefully until his alarm clock woke him up again.

* * *

><p>AN: It felt like describing a scene from some bad action movie. Oh hey! Any guesses as to who this Thief King might be? There was a hint in the desciption and let me tell you: You know that character.

Next chapter is a Halloween special! It (hopefully) will be up on Oct 31st then. And it's a Deathshipping date. And then we'll have three more dates to go but hey, we also have to find out who the Thief King is, whether Mariku and Ryou ever find out that they're being stalked and what happens to Bakura's old gang. And of course: what happens to Bakura's and Malik's relationship? See? We have a lot of work to do!

See you on Halloween!


	8. Haunted

A/N: Your guesses on the thief were all great! Unfortunately, I can't tell you who it is. So thanks to LadySunami I'm updating earlier than expected… in the middle of the night, now that's Halloween~

**Replies are at the bottom!**

A lot of Deathshipping in this chapter. Kuracakes was a great inspiration~ And, do you believe in ghost stories? Just asking~

* * *

><p>Chapter 8<p>

Haunted

An irritated sigh escaped a pair of lips that belonged to a rather annoyed Egyptian teen. The eyes of countless of students watched him as he walked down the hallway of the school building. Some were whispering to each other, others made disgusted faces and there even were some who giggled. He was getting tired of this. It had been going on for weeks now. In fact, he was so sick of this that he had asked his sister to let him stay at home for a while. She refused, of course, and made her little brother go to the hellish place anyway. And so he had to endure this every day. Daily humiliation he could not escape from, there was hardly anything worse. Hardly anybody talked to him and if they did, then it was no normal conversation. If students were forced to somehow converse with him, they would do it with knowing, disgusted looks, witty remarks and sometimes even with insults. Malik never let it show that their behavior affected him. He knew that if he showed them his weak side, then this would never stop. He simply had to show them that he was better than that. But no matter how many times he repeated this over and over in his mind, he was simply sick of it. And he did not want to wait any longer, he wanted this to stop _now_.

And this was not even his only problem. Oh no, there was more. He was still feeling bad for failing to save all of the Sennen Items. And at home his sister kept pestering him. She had become so unbearably nosy. Whenever Malik was sitting down somewhere with his cell phone in his hands, texting his friend, she would ask him all kinds of weird questions. Talking about weird questions. About two days after the incident in the museum Rishid had asked a few very suspicious questions. And the result had been anything but pleasant.

_Malik had just put his plate into the dishwasher and was walking out of the kitchen when someone grabbed his arm. The boy spun around and was face to face with an uneasy looking Rishid. "Do you have a minute?" the tall Egyptian asked and tried hard to keep eye-contact._

_The teen narrowed his eyes at him wearily but nodded regardless. Rishid led both of them into his room where he made his little brother sit down on the bed. "What's wrong? You're acting weird" Malik commented as he crossed his arms. Rishid usually never acted like this and he wanted answers, now._

_Rishid carefully closed the door behind him before he approached his younger brother. "Malik, do you remember when Mariku's..."_

_When the man paused awkwardly, Malik immediately knew what he meant. "Boyfriend?"_

"_Yes. Do you remember when he visited that evening?"_

"_Yes? What about him?"_

"_He brought his brother as well, didn't he." It was a statement and no question but Malik nodded regardless, even if reluctant. He did not like where this was going. Because it was moving away from Ryou and into Bakura's direction. Something told him that this was a dangerous course. He saw his oldest brother avert his eyes for a moment before he refocused them on the pair of lavender eyes. Malik was beginning to feel less like the one with the upper hand and more like cornered prey looking into the eye of its hunter. Rishid eyed him with a look only older siblings or parents were able to give. He decided that this was not a good sign and that he should be especially careful with his answers now._

"_What was his name again?" Rishid asked sounding thoughtful._

"_Bakura", Malik answered with ease and his brother went on._

"_And he's his brother?"_

"_Twin brother, yes."_

"_And is he in the same class as Mariku?"_

"_Yes, together with Ryou."_

"_And he and Mariku are friends, yes?"_

_Malik paused for a moment and thought about how to answer. What was it with all these questions anyways? Still, if he refused to answer it would raise suspicion. "I think they are still friends although they don't hang out too much anymore. You know why..."_

_Rishid nodded in understanding. "Yes, because he probably spends all of his time with Ryou. But what does he keep himself occupied with if he doesn't spend time with Mariku?"_

_This was getting more and more suspicious by the second and Malik just wanted the questions to stop already. "How should I know?" he retorted more aggressively than intended. He immediately regretted his tone but it was too late, Rishid had already heard it._

_One__ black__ eyebrow __rose__ questioningly.__ "__Malik,__ do_ you _spend__ time__ with __him?__"_

_Lavender eyes widened for a moment. Had Rishid heard about the rumors? Or had he seen them? Then he put his indifferent mask back on. At least he had hoped it would look indifferent, instead it looked annoyed. He glared up at his older brother. "Why do you ask?"_

_However, the question was simply ignored. "I've heard bad things about him", the tall Egyptian said while he turned around to face the door, ready to leave. "You should watch who you turn to. Always remember that people are not always who they seem to be."_

_At that Malik stood up from his spot on the bed to stand next to his brother and eye him defiantly. "What are you implying? That I can't take care of myself? That I have no idea of what people can be like? Or that I'm still a kid? Answer me, Rishid!"_

_Slowly, the back was turned around and Malik was face to face with his brother again. To his surprise he did not look angered, instead he looked hurt. He instantly felt a twinge of guilt in his heart for having an outburst like that. "I'm merely worried about you. He is no good influence. I've heard what sorts of things he's done already, how many times his brother or father had to pick him up from the police department because he had gotten in some sort of trouble. I just don't want anything to happen to you. Is it wrong to be worried that you might end up in jail beside him someday?"_

_At__ first__ Malik __had__ felt__ sympathy __and__ guilt__ but__ his __anger __had__ been __inflamed__ once__ more.__ "__It__'__s__ not__ wrong__ to__ be__ worried __but __it__'__s__ wrong __to__ imprison __me__ like__ that.__ Nobody__ has__ the __right __to __tell__ me__ who __I__ should__ befriend__ and__ who__ not, __not__ even__ you,__ brother.__ My__ friends__ are__ the __family__ I__ choose.__ And__ if__ I__ choose__ to__ sit__ next__ to __them __in__ jail,__ then__ that's_ my _decision.__" __Malik__then__ grabbed__ the__ door __handle, __eyes__ still__ on__ his __brother__'__s__ shocked__ ones.__ "__And__ there__'__s__ nothing__ you__ can __do__ about __it...__" __And__ with __that__ he __left__ the __room __and __his__ brother._

His brother had not brought the subject up anymore but Malik was still worried about the whole situation. He was afraid that Rishid might know something. Bakura had lost his mask in the museum that night. What if Rishid had seen his face? And what about Mariku? He had not spoken to him in ages. What was wrong with that guy? It was as if he was avoiding him. And Bakura as well, from what he could tell.

School was problematic and so was his life at home. The only part of his life he really enjoyed was - a soft smile made its way onto his lips - spending time with Bakura. Malik had realized that having a friend was simply an amazing experience. He could bother Bakura whenever he wanted, could talk about all sorts of strange things and still find it amusing. He felt at home when he was with Bakura. Because he felt comfortable, welcome and free all at once. He was everything he could never have been around him. He could relax, have fun and simply be a side he had never found in himself before. A side that felt different. He had thought a lot about it until he finally realized it. This new side of him was truly and undeniably happy. If he wanted to, he could forget about his problems. Because no matter what his friend did, it cheered him up somehow. And whatever he did, he did it in his own special way, just like they both were when they were together. Special. To Malik it felt like they had a special bond. He wondered whether others felt like this when they were with friends. Whether they also felt like the missing piece had been put into the puzzle. It felt unreal. Like a dream world.

However, a dream world was just a dream world after all. Something he woke up from every day.

And reality had never been so crystal clear as it was when Malik was suddenly faced with a few individuals he was, unfortunately, acquainted with. He had just reached his locker when he found three certain students standing a few feet away from him. He recognized the blue hair of the leader of the little group and the two tall students beside him. He quickly averted his eyes and shifted his attention to his locker which he opened. He tried his best to pretend he had never seen them. He knew what they had come for but he was not prepared to fight back yet. Now he regretted that he had spent so much time with his new-found friend instead of training with his brother a bit. He had not prepared himself for this at all. His only hope was that they had not seen him but for what other reason would they be on this floor if not for him? Caught up in his inner fight with himself he had not noticed how he had just been standing there staring at the same spot in his locker the whole time. There was no way anyone would believe he had not seen them. 'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!' he thought frantically as he stared at one of his books with dilated eyes. In the corner of his eye he could see the blunette make a step to approach him. His will to 'survive' finally kicked in and he decided to get away as long as he still had the chance to. With that in mind he closed his locker without retrieving anything.

But when he closed the door, something beside him came into view. He gasped, startled that there was suddenly someone standing beside him. He had a little déjà-vu when the familiar smirk, mahogany eyes and snow white hair greeted him.

"Bakura", Malik said, blinking.

"Did I startle you?" the albino snickered. The younger teen turned slightly to catch a brief glance of the three teens that were still standing behind him. He noted with relief that they made no other move to approach him. It was most likely because of Bakura.

"Why are you here?" he asked as he turned back to his friend. But his friend was looking at what was behind him and he was frowning. Malik hoped that he had not recognized the other teens although he probably had. He just prayed that nothing bad would happen. Bakura made no move towards them but his eyes never left the group when he talked.

"I'll tell you somewhere else. Come", he ordered with his hand pushing lightly on the Egyptian's back. Of course, all eyes were on the two of them as Bakura dragged his younger partner down the hallway, away from the group of older students. Malik already felt nauseous just thinking about what sorts of rumors would go around this time.

Soon they were standing on the rooftop of their school. Neither could help but think about their first 'meeting' that was connected to this place. Bakura leaned his back against the fence and shoved his hands into his pockets. Malik stayed on his spot opposite his partner and waited for him to revive their conversation. His albino friend grinned, seemingly pleased with whatever he was about to say.

"What's on Monday, Malik?" he asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

The blond was confused by the unexpected question but thought about it regardless. "Well... the 31st? Why?"

Bakura rolled his eyes hopelessly. "Ah, come on. And what's on the 31st _every_ year?" The Egyptian raised an eyebrow at him and he added, "It's really not that hard if you pay at least a little bit of attention to what's on sale."

Malik tried harder. What do shops sell at this time of the year? He had not noticed anything special. But then it hit him like lightening. "Halloween", he finally answered.

"Bingo! And guess what", Bakura said unusually eager.

"What?"

"Guess who's going out on Halloween." And both smirked devilishly.

"I see. So? What are they up to?"

"I finally found out what Mariku gave to Ryou for his birthday. Ryou just couldn't keep quiet about it and told me all about it yesterday. Well, the prick got him tickets for a musical. And they're going to see that musical on Halloween. I believe that this year's Halloween will be memorable for them", the older teen finished, the evil grin always present.

"I couldn't agree more", Malik snickered. "Well, partner, got a plan already?"

"Only the best from the _true_ King of Thieves."

"I'm all ears..."

* * *

><p>Today was going to be a great day, because today was the day Mariku had been looking forward to ever since his lover's birthday. It was not because of the place they were going to, it was because he would be with his beloved all day and all night long. He found it funny how Ryou was so excited about this musical while he was just happy that he could have the albino for so long. They had not been together like this in quite some time. And he genuinely missed being close to the person he cherished. Things had been a bit rocky between them because of recent events and how they ended. All of their previous dates had been ruined somehow. But that would not happen today. Because this time he had prepared for every case. Nothing was going to go wrong this time.<p>

He eyed his reflection in the mirror and frowned. But what in the name of Ra should he wear? He had not asked Ryou about it because he had never thought about it until now. Today was Halloween so did that mean he had to dress up? If yes, as what? If it were Bakura he was meeting, he would not care about his clothes but he wanted to look different – in a positive way - when he was going out with his lover. His frown deepened as he thought about Bakura.

He knew that something was going on between his friend and his little brother, he just had to find out what exactly it was. Malik obviously thought of the other teen as his friend. But Mariku knew Bakura too well. That self-centered wannabe criminal would never care a lot about anyone besides his twin brother and himself, of course. He could be using Malik for anything. His brother was naive enough to let someone who he believed was his friend exploit him. That thief could do Ra knows what to him. Malik might take the wrong course because of him and, as his older brother, Mariku had to prevent that from happening. Therefore he had to find out what was going on and stop it before it was too late.

"Bye, Isis!" called a voice from downstairs.

"Where are you going?" he heard his sister question. There was a short pause and Mariku approached the slightly opened door and gazed through the slit. His little brother, naive, little baby brother, was standing at the front door, ready to leave. He turned around to face his sister who was waiting patiently for an answer.

"I'm going to a friend's place. He's uh... having a Halloween party and he invited me", the blond explained.

Isis put a hand on her hip. "A party?"

"Yes."

"I hope it's a normal party."

Malik rolled his eyes at that. "It is. There's no alcohol or anything. Can I go now?"

The woman did not seem convinced and was reluctant to answer. "Well... but if you come back with a hangover-"

"Promise that won't happen. Bye, sis!" Malik interrupted and quickly left.

"-then I'll never let you on a party ever again!" Isis finished when her brother closed the front door. She was not sure whether he had heard it but he knew exactly that if he screwed up he would have to bear the consequences.

When his brother had left, Mariku turned back to his closet and his problem. He tried to find clothes to wear but his mind had wandered off to a completely different place. Malik going to a party? That could not be right. Something was definitely wrong. And he had mentioned a friend inviting him. Mariku immediately thought back to Bakura and all the ways in which he could taint his brother. An interesting idea entered his mind. 'What if that bastard is trying to take revenge by getting Malik into trouble. Oh, Bakura, if that's the case then you're in deep shit.' Or what if it was not getting Malik into trouble but something else? Something even worse. What if Bakura was trying to take revenge by using his brother in a - Mariku felt disgusted and enraged at the mere thought - sexual way. Bakura probably thought that Mariku was not serious about his relationship with Ryou and wanted to do the same to Malik now.

Then again, he thought, Malik would never let anyone near him in that way, especially not another guy. He had been taught that homosexuality was wrong after all. He was sure about that, Malik would not fall for that trick and he would not have to worry about that at least. Still, he believed the older Touzoku was his friend. His violet eyes were boring holes into his clothes by now. It was not safe to leave things like this. He needed to do something about their little 'friendship', and soon.

* * *

><p>Hideaki Touzoku was not too surprised to have the youngest Ishtar standing in front of him when he answered the door. Malik came to visit quite frequently. He still had not gotten used to the fact that such a nice boy was friends with his trouble-seeking son. But he did not complain. Maybe his son would have a positive change someday thanks to this boy.<p>

"Good evening, Malik", he greeted with a smile. The blond bowed quickly and smiled back.

"Hello, Hideaki-san", Malik greeted back.

"I bet you want to see Bakura. Come in." The man further opened the door and stepped aside so the teen could enter. Malik gave him a brief glance of gratitude and went directly for the stairs. However, he was stopped when Mr. Touzoku spoke again. "Malik."

The addressed boy turned around, one foot on the first step already. "Hm?"

"Have you heard anything new about the Sennen Items?" Malik frowned slightly. He had completely forgotten about this. This was not the first time his friend's father had asked him about the items. The first time had been almost immediately after the incident in the museum. Of course the archaeologist was concerned about them. They were the only reason he was still in Japan after all. Malik was worried about them, too, and he kept thinking about a plan to get them back. With no success until now. It might be easier with Bakura's help but he did not want to owe him even more. Besides, the last time had been very risky and his friend had almost been caught because he had involved him in his quest. He did not intend to do this again.

The blond hung his head slightly, not looking into the other's eyes. The answer was the same as always. "No."

He could hear the man's soft sigh. "Alright", he said and Malik took that as his permission to leave. With that he ascended the stairs to his friend's room. He walked through the familiar hallway towards that certain door and did not even knock when he entered. Finding his friend asleep on his bed had become close to normal already. He was lying on his back with one arm covering his eyes. It was hard to tell whether he was really asleep or just acting. Malik grinned as an evil idea entered his mind. He silently closed the door behind him and soundlessly snuck up to the sleeping teen. He halted in front of the bed, ready to pounce on to the older boy when a voice stopped him.

"Don't you dare...", came the warning from the wide awake albino.

Malik huffed in return. "You're absolutely no fun, 'Kura."

Bakura grinned lazily upon hearing the nickname. It was another thing that had become normal. He remembered the first time his partner had used it. That had been in the club when Malik had been too drunk for everything. Even though the young Egyptian did not remember that time, he had returned to calling him by that nickname nevertheless. It might have reminded Bakura a lot of Mariku but to him it sounded way better coming out of Malik's mouth, so he was fine with it. As for Bakura, he usually did not call the younger teen by any pet names. He rarely ever used 'kiddo' anymore, only when he really wanted to piss him off. Things had become different between them, but he assumed it was not for worse. He enjoyed their relationship like this, although deep down he always felt like there was still something missing.

"Guess what", Malik said as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I don't have to guess. You'll tell me anyway", the albino responded wisely, making the other roll his eyes.

"Your father asked me about the items again."

"Nothing new."

"Having the items under the same roof as him makes me worry", the blond explained, biting his bottom lip. "What if he finds them?"

"You really shouldn't be worried about this. I've learned to lock my room. And even if he breaks in, he'll never find them where I've hidden them", Bakura said calmly, his arm still shielding his eyes.

"How can you be so sure? What if he finds them regardless? You'd be in huge trouble."

At that, the older teen smirked once again and raised his arm to look at his friend. "So concerned about me? I'm touched."

"I believe you got it all wrong, dear partner", Malik responded with a grin of his own. "I'm concerned about the items, not you."

His friend snickered. "That hurt", he said sarcastically and sat up. "Anyway, we should get ready for tonight."

* * *

><p>Pale hands were shoved through the sleeves of a brown coat, as Ryou prepared for his Halloween date. It was already dark outside and it was getting colder each day, so choosing some warm clothes was not wrong. In addition, he also wrapped a light blue scarf around his neck. When he was ready, he said goodbye to his father and left the house, oblivious to the two pairs of eyes watching him.<p>

He only had to walk a few steps and already caught sight of a person waiting on the sidewalk. A soft smile graced his lips when he recognized the person to be his boyfriend. Upon approaching him, Mariku realized that Ryou was behind him and so he turned around. His white haired lover was still smiling at him when he made the final steps to stand in front of the taller teen. Mariku almost immediately and without a warning bent down to give his beloved a gentle kiss on the lips.

Ryou had honestly not expected such a greeting but was all the more grateful. His cheeks grew only a bit warmer but on his pale skin the soft red was very obvious. "Are you in a good mood?" he asked in his polite way.

His lover merely smirked. "I'm always in a good mood when I see you", he answered easily, making the other's blush darken.

The pale teen broke their eye-contact but grabbed his lover's hand to signal that he was ready to go. He felt the other entwine their fingers and lead him away. Only a few feet away from the couple stood a midnight blue car. The vehicle belonged to the Ishtar family and was usually used by Rishid. But tonight Mariku was able to use it which made things a lot more comfortable. The theatre was not around the next corner after all. It was actually going to be a long ride to the next city. In the beginning they could occupy themselves with some small talk but both soon drifted off into their own world.

At some point, Ryou remembered the first time he had ever seen Mariku. He shifted his gaze from the window to said boy who seemed concentrated on the road. Ryou smiled a little. Who could have guessed that they would end up together? Their first meeting had gone terrible after all.

_It had been just another class in school, yet 14-years-old Ryou was anything but happy. It was not because class had been boring or he had forgotten his homework. It was simply because class was over and now was break time. For Ryou this was always torturous, because for bullies he was the perfect target. He did not understand this at all. He was always nice to others and always tried to help, so why did those people treat him badly? He had not done anything, this was not fair._

_His twin brother, on the other hand, was rather popular and respected despite his rough personality. Girls kept sending him love letters and people either did as he said or avoided him. He also had something like a gang, no real friends but 'followers' who did everything he told them to do. He was not a good student like Ryou, he skipped classes whenever he felt like it, hardly ever did his homework by himself, if ever, and cheated wherever it was possible. Bakura was everything parents wanted to keep their kids from becoming, and yet he was one of the most popular students in school._

_They were exact opposites, one was a bully and the other was a victim. Ryou could have asked Bakura to help him with his problems, because Ryou was the only person he would do anything for, but the younger twin did not want his brother to get in even more trouble than he already was. Sometimes Bakura would find out when others had mocked or even beaten him but most of the time he did not because he kept silent about it. And those kids knew that and took advantage of it._

_Therefore the kid with the long, snow white hair was now hurrying down the hallways of the school. If he was fast enough, then maybe they would not even notice him. His hopes were short-lived, however, when he literally bumped into someone. Because he had been running so quickly the force was rather great and he stumbled backwards, close to falling to the floor. _

_"Oh, I'm really sorry!" he quickly apologized before he had even looked up. And when he did, his eyes widened considerably. For in front of him, together with some other students, stood a boy with exotic, tan skin, spiked, sandy blond hair and intimidating, violet eyes - Mariku Ishtar. The boy the whole school was talking about. He had just transferred to their school a few weeks ago and had already gained a fearsome reputation. Rumors said that he tended to be violent simply when people got on his nerves. He was said to have actually beaten someone so much that the boy had to spend a night in the hospital. Ryou gulped nervously as he gazed up at the boy who in return was glaring down at him, his eyes almost boring holes into his head. When no reply came, Ryou backed off a bit, intending to turn around and leave again as soon as possible. "Sorry", he repeated once more and with that he turned his back on the scary boy._

_"Wait", came the expected protest and Ryou froze over on the spot, his heart thudding rapidly against his chest, throat becoming dry. "Aren't you Touzoku's brother?" the boy questioned with a strange accent the albino had never heard before. He did not dare to face the other but he nodded nevertheless. He instantly regretted that he was not face to face with the other when he heard footsteps approach him. He screwed his eyes shut, ready for some act of violence._

_"Yes, you're that bastard's brother. So? What are we going to do with you?" the other students snickered in the background and Mariku shot them a glare that shut them up._

_Ryou was trembling by now and still found no courage to look at the one doing this to him. "J-just let me go, p-please..." he stammered._

_"I'm afraid that's impossible. Because of your dear brother I got into some nasty trouble, you see? I can't just let you go when I could do something better." The voice had drawn closer with every word and by the end Ryou could feel the other's breath hit his ear._

_Suddenly, he made an unexpected move. He grabbed the pale boy by the collar of his uniform and pushed him towards his followers. The students reflexively stepped aside when the boy came stumbling and finally fell on his rear on the hard floor. Ryou winced in pain and rubbed his hurting backside. When he looked back up, he found himself surrounded by the gang of bullies. They had made a circle around him, there was no escape now. For a brief moment all Ryou wished was for his brother to come and save him. He quickly shoved it aside, however, because that would mean that his brother might get hurt as well. It was for the better if he took all the beating. He shut his eyes tightly, blocking out the evil snickers and chuckles. He knew no one would step in and take his side now but he could not deny the little spark of hope deep within his heart. The hope for a miracle._

_There was a 'thud' noise like something had been hit and following came a voice the boy knew the best. "Get the fuck away from him", it snarled._

_Chocolate brown eyes flew open and fell upon his look-alike. "Bakura!" Ryou exclaimed hopefully. His brother looked anything but pleased but neither did the tan boy._

_Mariku bent down and picked up a torn book. "Did you fucker just through that book at me?" he inquired in a venomous tone. But Bakura did not let that affect him even though people were already backing away from the both of them. Tension was in the air, making it seem twice as thick._

_"Why yes, it just looked like a perfect match for your thick skull so I thought I'd give the two of you a light push into the right direction", the more confident twin responded mockingly._

_The Egyptian's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't fuck with me, Touzoku", he warned._

_Since Bakura had never been one for listening to warnings, he decided to put something on top that crossed the line. "It looks like my push was too much though. Does it hurt? Want me to call your mommy?"_

_If Mariku had had some self-restraint before then he had lost the last bit now. Without a warning, he leapt at the the pale teen's throat, making them both crash to the floor. Bakura automatically reacted by putting his feet up to get some space between them. He then used his advantage and, by kicking into the other's stomach, sent the Egyptian flying off of him and onto the floor behind him. Using his chance, he quickly stood up again and intended to kick the other's stomach once more now that he was lying on his back. Mariku reacted quickly enough and caught the albino's foot in both of his hands. He pulled until Bakura lost his balance and crashed to the floor once more._

_It was Mariku's time to stand up then and he grabbed the other by his collar, much like he had done to his brother only a few minutes prior. He lifted him up and forcefully pressed the smaller body into the wall, pushing so hard that it knocked the breath out of the younger boy. Bakura pushed against the other's chest and kicked against his shin but it showed no positive results, his opponent only squeezed harder. Seeing no other solution, Bakura tilted his head backwards and, with as much force as he could muster, he head butted the Egyptian. Mariku let go of the other to clutch at his hurt forehead and Bakura mirrored his actions, hissing at the sharp pain._

_Ryou had finally stood up and reluctantly approached the momentarily distracted boys. "Uhm...", he started insecurely and gulped. "You shouldn't fight..." But his pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears, for when both had recovered from the last blow they went at each other's throats again. Ryou could only stand and watch helplessly as the two of them hurt each other without thinking. "Please stop!" He tried hard to get them to stop by simply using his voice but in such a physical fight a little voice such as his did not help. Their fight went on and every time Ryou thought Bakura had the upper hand, the tables turned again. The winner was unclear even as the minutes passed them by. Insults were thrown into the round occasionally but, to Ryou's surprise, both of them were grinning despite the beating and harsh words. What was that about, he wondered. Were they actually enjoying this?_

_It just went on and on like this until after what felt like an eternity, a teacher arrived. Someone must have informed her. She had to tear the boys away from each other to make them stop. They were both panting heavily, having bruises and scratches everywhere. The teacher gave both detention and they were brought to the school's nurse to treat their wounds. Ryou went along because of his brother. He was still scared of the other teen but knew that he was safe as long as Bakura and the teacher were still there. To his dismay, the teacher left the three of them alone._

_Nobody dared to utter a word as the nurse did her job. She then turned to Ryou with a smile. "Could you help me?" she asked and of course Ryou did not refuse. She quickly finished bandaging one of Bakura's gashes and turned to his twin brother. "Here", she said as she put a bandage and a pair of scissors into the pale teen's hands. "You can wrap it around his lower arm", she explained with a nod towards Mariku._

_When Ryou realized that the nurse was referring to the Egyptian and not his brother, he became even paler. He swallowed audibly and slowly turned to look at Mariku. The boy did not even bother to look back at him even though he could feel his eyes on him. He simply looked into the opposite direction and waited for his wounds to be treated so that he could leave as soon as possible. After another urging glance from the nurse, Ryou finally walked over to where his patient was sitting and took a seat on the bed beside him. With shaky hands he carefully placed the first end of the bandage on the tan boy's arm. Seeing no resistance or protest, he proceeded to wrap the cloth around the tanned arm. During the process, his fingers accidentally brushed the bronze skin and he immediately pulled away with a gasp. But he had noticed that the skin had been unnaturally cold. _

_The feeling of skin on skin and the little gasp had been enough to catch Mariku's attention. He had been paying attention the whole time but deemed it justified to look now. "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice that of a normal student when he asked a normal question. Ryou was admittedly taken aback by how natural it had sounded but instantly wondered why this boy should not be normal, too. He looked up at the question and met a pair of beautiful, violet eyes. It was different from before somehow, they did not seem dangerous anymore. They were just human eyes, magnificent human eyes. "What?" Mariku repeated when he received no answer and the white haired boy broke their eye contact as quickly as if it was forbidden._

_"You're cold...", he muttered barely above a whisper, but Mariku had heard it nonetheless._

_"It's always like that", he stated. Ryou nodded in understanding and went back to wrapping the bandage around his arm. When all wounds had been treated, the nurse went to dispose of the trash they had made and left the three of them alone. It was awkwardly silent for a minute until Bakura was the first to break the silence._

_"We should do this again", he said, staring at the wall ahead of him._

_Two heads turned to him. "Fighting each other you mean?" Mariku asked and Bakura nodded his head solemnly._

_It was Ryou's turn to interfere then. "No, you shouldn't. I don't want you to fight", he said. His twin only raised an eyebrow at him._

_"Then how about we beat others?" he offered._

_"No!" Ryou exclaimed but was ignored when Mariku spoke._

_"Yeah, let's start with that one guy from your class."_

_"The one who asks every girl to go out with him?"_

_"Yeah, that one. I never liked him."_

_"Me neither. You're right, he deserves some beating."_

_"Argh!" Ryou clutched his head with both hands and pulled on his hair. "You two are horrible!"_

_"Thanks", they both said in unison with equally evil smirks._

That had been the day they met. After that they started to see one another more often. They were not like usual friends, being sweet to one another with lots of smiling and hugging, but they were friends nevertheless. Bakura and Mariku did nothing but get into trouble the whole time, of course. But when Ryou spent time with Mariku it was much calmer and more peaceful. Ryou had long ago lost his fear for the Egyptian troublemaker. But how they met and how they fell in love were two completely different stories, hardly related to each other.

"Ryou?" came Mariku's voice suddenly. Ryou swiftly turned to look at him questioningly. "I said 'we're here'."

"Oh", the whitette said and glanced out of the window. As a matter of fact, they had arrived. He had been thinking for a long time then.

The theatre was unexpectedly huge and many people had formed a queue in front of the fittingly big entrance. There even was a royal red carpet where the people stood waiting. It was a good thing they had left early because about half an hour had passed until they were finally inside the building. In the lobby they had to wait another thirty minutes until they were finally led to the hall. Their seats were not in one of the first rows but it was close enough to see everything well. Ryou was so excited, he could hardly sit still in his seat. He always had to either fumble with his clothing or swing his feet back and forth. In other people's eyes he probably seemed like a little boy on Christmas Day, but in Mariku's eyes he was his adorable lover, excited over his birthday gift. People were taking their seats, the curtains were still closed.

Mariku could not deny this uneasy feeling that something was going to go wrong again. There was still 'Plan B', but still...

He felt a soft tug on his right arm and realized that Ryou had grabbed it and was now resting his head on his shoulder. Mariku smiled at his boyfriend. "Aren't you always the one who says 'not in public'?" he said with a low chuckle.

Ryou pouted up at the older teen but replaced it with his soft smile again. "Yes, but...", he then hugged the other's arm tightly, "I'm just really happy right now. And no one's looking anyway."

"I wouldn't be so sure", Mariku mumbled with a teasing grin, making the other look around nervously. From what he could tell, there was really nobody looking into their direction. He suddenly felt the other grab his chin and tilt his head into Mariku's direction.

"But I'm glad you're happy", he whispered, leaning closer to the other boy. Ryou was already closing his eyes, bending over his armrest to meet the other. They were close, so close they could feel the other's breath against their own lips. But the kiss remained unshared when a voice tore through the air.

_"Dear__ guests",_the voice said through a speaker, _"we__ regret__ having __to __tell__ you__ that __due__ to__ technical__ problems__ the__ musical__ can__not__ be__ performed__ as__ planned.__ We__ apologize__ for__ the __inconveniences__ caused.__ Your__ money__ will__ be __returned__ at__ the__ reception.__ Once__ more __we__ apologize__ and__ wish__ you__ a__ good__ evening."_ Protests and ranting could be heard from everywhere as people grabbed their belongings and left the hall again.

Ryou's eyes had reopened during the announcement and were staring directly into Mariku's furious ones. The Egyptian let go of his chin and backed away again, trying to compose himself. "I knew it...", he whispered to himself.

"Mariku?" Ryou said, careful not to provoke the other in this state. "We... should probably leave, too." To his surprise his lover calmed down almost immediately and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah..." With that they stood up and walked towards the exit. This was rather suspicious to Ryou. Normally this would have made his lover stab someone but he was perfectly composed. He himself was very disappointed though. He had been looking forward to this musical for so long, 'Dance Of The Vampires'. He simply loved everything occult, so this had been _his_ musical. He even believed he was angrier about this than his boyfriend was. _He_wanted to stab someone now. 'Calm down, Ryou, calm down. Look, Mariku is pulling himself together, you should stay calm, too. For his sake.' But he could not deny it, he was so disappointed now. 'Happy Halloween…', he told himself inwardly.

They went back to the car wordlessly and once again failed to notice that they were being watched. In a black car, parked several feet away from the couple, sat two partners in crime.

"Messing with the hydraulic pipes was a brilliant idea, really", the blond teen praised with a pleased smile, "but I do feel a little bad. Just imagine how much work they put into making the stage set and now everything's ruined."

The albino in the driver's seat shifted to sit straight again. "Who cares? It was a success, another date's been ruined." He then started the engine and they drove off. They followed the couple with another vehicle between them so as to not make it too suspicious. After a while, however, they realized that the course they had taken did not lead them back home.

"Where are those faggots driving?" Bakura wondered aloud and Malik only shrugged his shoulders.

"No idea. I don't know this place, so..."

"We'll just follow them and see what happens", the older teen suggested.

"Do you think they're lost?"

Bakura shook his head. "No. They both know the way."

* * *

><p>"This isn't the way home", Ryou said after a while and looked at his boyfriend for an explanation.<p>

"Who said we're going home?" Mariku countered and Ryou was a bit taken aback by that response.

"So... where are we going then?" he asked curiously.

Mariku could no longer suppress the smirk then. And mysteriously he answered "To a place you will like."

The white haired teen blinked at him in confusion but did not press any further. It had sparked his curiosity now but if this was supposed to be a surprise to cheer him up then he did not want to spoil it. So he simply waited, impatient nonetheless. The more minutes passed the further away they got from the comforting safety of the city and deeper into the unknown territory of a dark forest. Ryou was feeling a little uneasy about this. He just hoped they would find the way back again. After a long drive through the seemingly endless, obscure forest, the scenery changed. Into view came an area that was not occupied by trees. Their car came to a halt in front of a high steel fence, in the middle of it a majestic gate. Ryou gazed up at the huge entrance and absentmindedly unfastened his seatbelt. Out of the car, he lost no time in approaching the fence to get a better look at it. It was old, rusty on some parts, but had an elegant design.

He hardly noticed Mariku approach him from behind, when he caught sight of what stood behind the fence. In the shadows of the night, shielded from the eye of public, was an estate. The wrinkled leaves of the few trees that stood in the yard, rustled as a cold breeze blew by. The mansion must have been magnificent in its best years for even now it still looked beautiful. Ryou stared at the sight with wide eyes and Mariku chuckled from beside him.

"Told you you'd like it", he said.

"We need to get in there", was the albino's only response. Not wasting any time, he grabbed the gate and pulled. However, it did not open up but only made a clinking noise. Ryou looked down to where the sound had come from and only then noticed the iron chains and the heavy lock that kept the gate closed. Almost irritated he turned to his lover.

"Do you have something with which we can open it?" His question was answered when Mariku retrieved a knife from his pocket. He was about to try and unlock the door when his lover had already snapped it out of his hand. Mariku had honestly never seen him unlock anything as quickly as then. With the first try the lock already made a soft click and the heavy chains plus lock fell on the muddy ground. As if being hunted, Ryou dashed through the now open gate and towards the huge building. The older of the two shook his head with a smile and followed him inside.

"It's amazing!" Ryou swooned as he walked closer to the house's entrance, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"I heard that many years ago a couple lived here", Mariku began and his lover turned to look at him to show his interest. "At first there was a rich family that lived in here. Only a few years after they had moved into the house... something happened."

They both stopped in front of the entrance and Mariku took his knife back to unlock the door himself this time. Ryou blinked at him curiously. "What happened?"

"Their son, a very talented boy, died from a disease. He died when he was really young."

"How awful...", Ryou commented guiltily as Mariku broke the wooden door open with his knife. When they swung the door open, a wave of dust swam over the smooth, marble floor. The first room consisted of a huge hall where two stairs led up to the second floor and countless doors led into several rooms. The walls were decorated with portraits and lamps that were covered in spider webs and dust. The once olive colored curtains were gray and torn. One of many windows was shattered and wind came in through it to whirl up more dust that had settled everywhere.

"In the first year they were devastated and visited his grave at least once a day. But after a year, they got another child, another son. They forgot about their dead son altogether and hardly ever visited his grave anymore. And then..." Mariku paused to look back at Ryou who was so caught up in the story that he did nothing but wait for it to continue. He gulped, sensing that there would be no happy ending.

"Then what...?"

"...They were murdered", he said at long last and gazed at the stairs ahead of them. "Many years after that incident someone else moved in. It was a young couple with a lot of money."

Mariku walked towards the staircase, Ryou following him, and they ascended the stairs that creaked under them with every second step. "After two months they moved out again. They were desperate to find another house they could live in. All they wanted was to get away from this place."

"Why? Was there... was there something wrong with this mansion?" Ryou asked when they had finally made it to the second floor. It looked much like the hall beneath them with many doors leading into different rooms. One door was opened by a crack and both silently agreed to inspect that certain room.

"From what they had told one would think something had to be wrong with this house. Strange things happened. At first they did not think much of it but those incidents became more frequent over time and when they explained why they wanted to move out they said..." Before opening the door, Mariku turned to Ryou again with a malicious smirk. "...that this place was haunted."

"...Amazing...", the smaller teen breathed through barely parted lips. And they finally entered the room that had offered itself to them. There was only the light of the moon to illuminate the place. It made a dusty bed in the center of the room visible. They were about to go further into the room when they suddenly heard a loud thud. They both turned around and scanned their surroundings but found nothing. Then they looked back at each other.

"What was that?" Ryou wondered aloud.

* * *

><p>"What the bloody hell did you do now?" hissed the irritated, pale boy.<p>

"I just heard something and knocked this picture down by accident", the blond teen explained and pointed at the portrait that was now lying flat on the floor.

"Oh, you heard something. It was probably just your imagination. Getting paranoid 'cause you're scared?" Bakura mocked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm not scared! And I'm not imagining things, there really was something", Malik said, defending himself and his pride.

Bakura only rolled his eyes with a grin. "Yeah, sure. Believe me there's nothing. The only thing that could run around in this mansion would be a rat."

Malik blushed in embarrassment. There really was no reason to be jumpy. After all, there was nobody except for the lovebirds. "I still don't understand what we're doing here", he mumbled after a while.

"Ryou loves creepy stuff, so this is the perfect place for him", the albino explained with a shrug of his shoulders. The Egyptian grinned amusedly.

"Explains why he likes my brother then", he said, earning a small laugh from his partner.

"Yeah, I suppose."

Malik then bent down to pick up the fallen portrait. When he was able to see the front, he noticed that it was covered by a layer of dust as well. He wiped over the surface with his hand. A picture of a young boy with short, green hair and crystal blue eyes became visible. He showed the picture to his partner, "Who's this?"

"How should I know? Probably one of the former owners of this mansion."

"Hnn..." Malik shifted his eyes back to the picture in his hands, "you're probably right..." He then leaned the portrait against the wall and they continued their 'mission'. Some doors were locked and the room they had a look at were all empty, so they assumed that the couple had gone upstairs.

"We should think of a plan", Bakura whispered to his friend as they climbed up the flight of stairs.

"But what should we do? If Ryou's really into that stuff then I doubt we could scare them."

"True..." They both halted on the stairs to think of a plan. After they had stopped the creaking noise of the stairs could be heard once more and Malik's head shot up to Bakura.

"Was that you?" he asked, his heart beating a bit faster than it should.

"What do you mean?"

And Malik gulped nervously but explained himself regardless. "That... creaking just now. Wasn't that you?"

Bakura's eyes narrowed suspiciously and he shook his head slowly. "No. I thought that was you." Both of them turned into several directions to check for any unwelcome guests. But they were alone. "Maybe it was from the other two", Bakura said when he could not find anyone. Although he had to admit that he also thought the sound had come from the stairs. Malik nodded, even if reluctant, accepting that reasoning.

The Egyptian took a step towards his partner who was still facing him. And in the corner of his eye he could see a shadow lingering at the top of the staircase that was not supposed to be there. In his shock, Malik jumped with a yelp. When he felt himself lose his balance he grabbed the first thing available, Bakura's arm.

Bakura, who had not been expecting the sudden extra weight on his arm, also lost his balance and both of them toppled down the stairs.

* * *

><p>"'Noah's Diary'", Ryou read out loud as he held the crimson book in his hands. His fingertips carefully traced the golden letters before he opened the book. He was about to read the first entry when a sudden, loud noise stopped him from doing so. It had sounded like something collapsing or falling to the ground. He looked up at Mariku in surprise who was just as clueless as him.<p>

"What was that?" Ryou asked, feeling a bit uneasy.

Mariku looked around cautiously. "I have a feeling we're not alone here", he said.

Ryou laid the book back down onto the table and clasped his hands together. "Maybe that is the ghost!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"No, Ryou, I mean it. Someone is here."

"Yes, the ghost", Ryou repeated eagerly and Mariku gave him a serious look.

"No, I mean _humans_, Ryou, not ghosts", he explained impatiently. They were not allowed to be here, so if there was someone checking on this mansion in the middle of the night, then they would be in trouble. "We need to leave, now." Mariku then grabbed his lover's hand and dragged him towards the door.

"Already? But we've just gotten here", the younger teen protested.

"I know but we're in deep shit if someone finds out we broke into this house." Ryou did not say any more. He understood that they could not stay, but he was still sad that they had to leave so soon. Nevertheless, he let his boyfriend lead him out of the room and back to the stairs.

* * *

><p>"Shit...", Bakura groaned as he felt pain all over his body. He was sure this would leave a few bruises. His feet were still lying on the first steps of the stairs while the rest of his body had crashed onto the hard stone floor beneath. When he rose his hand to clutch at his forehead and brushed against soft hair, he realized that Malik was lying on top of him.<p>

Malik, too, groaned and slowly propped himself up on his elbows, getting off of his friend's chest, and rubbed a hurting spot on his head. "Damn...", he cursed under his breath which hit Bakura's bare neck. He realized a little too late that he had been lying on something softer than the floor and looked up. He locked eyes with Bakura who was, of course, very close. Feeling heat rise to his face he immediately sat up and scooted further away from his friend, muttering a quick 'sorry' as he did so.

Bakura also sat up then and they remained silent for a long moment, not looking at each other. However, they both heard footsteps coming closer then and instantly got up to hide. This time it had to be the couple, so they hid behind the staircase where they waited until the two had passed them by. It was indeed their brothers who went to the door, suspiciously fast, and left the mansion. When the coast was clear, the two came out of their hideout. They gave each other a questioning look, wondering why those two had left already. Bakura then thought it to be the right time to ask about earlier.

"What was that about anyway? You suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled us both down. We could have some broken bones now", he said with one white eyebrow raised at his partner.

The blond shifted uncomfortably, feeling guilty. "I..." He wanted to tell the truth, say that he had seen something but he knew that Bakura would only make fun of him if he said that again. "I slipped", he lied. His older friend eyed him incredulously but decided not to press any further.

Instead he shook his head and said, "Come on, let's get going." Malik nodded in agreement and after waiting a bit longer, so the others would not see them, they left as well.

* * *

><p>Away from the estate, outside the gate and safe again, Ryou turned to his lover. Yes, he was sad that it had ended so soon but Mariku had done all of this for him. He genuinely appreciated it with all of his heart. Therefore he smiled when his lover looked back at him. Without a warning he leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. When he pulled away and saw the look of surprise on his boyfriend's face, he could not help but laugh.<p>

"Thank you, Mariku", he said sweetly, "this was the best birthday present ever."

And with those words on his mind, the Egyptian smiled back at him and bent down to connect their lips once more in a more passionate kiss.

From afar, a pair of ocean blue eyes watched them. A pitch-black crow flew by but the green head of hair remained unmoving, unaffected by any sort of motion. An exasperate sigh escaped the boy's lips as he watched the scene from the rooftop of the old mansion. He just stayed there and observed everything, as the first car drove off and as the second one did as well. And when they were gone and he was finally all by himself again, he let out another sigh along with the words, "Foolish mortals..."

* * *

><p>I hope it's obvious that this was the Noah Kaiba. Just had another story.<p>

**Pockyfeind:**Thank you! And your guess is good, I just can't say whether it's right or not.

**ObliviousAnimeGirl:**I love you too! But seriously, thank you! I'm glad it made you happy~

**Ryoubakura98:**It's already Halloween! I hope I did not disappoint you~ And hehe, you'll have to wait and see whether you were right.

**Saminagg:**Oh, yes they tried again. And yay! I'm also happy that their relationship is having some progress~ I'm glad you're enjoying it.

**Anime-on-replay:**I can't tell you if you're right, sorry :D Aww, thank you very much! I'm happy that you like it!

**LadySunami:**You all have awesome guesses really, but I can't tell you if it's right~ Oh, the drama indeed, the only thing I'm good at actually~ You're so right, girl. And I'm glad that Malik's past was not… disappointing, I guess? I was worried about it being repetitive. Thank you!

**Bakukitty4life:**And why are you so awesome? Thank you so much for these sweet compliments! I don't know what to say! And I don't think this story would be to LK's liking xD Thank you again!

**YamiBaki:**Oh my, Pam? Why hello there! And I'm so happy that you're enjoying it so much! And yes, I was indeed hurrying~

**Lil-Sango:**It's okay, I appreciate that you did review though! *glomps you* And I'm happy that you like it! OMG, I'm going into diabetic coma from all the sweetness! Thank you so much!

**Yijasha:**Why google, why? :'D I'm relieved that everything is okay and I'm super happy that you like it! Thank you, thank you!

_Phew… I love all of you, seriously. Next chapter might be weird with another date. See you soon!_


End file.
